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Victoria: A state of ideas, innovation and ambition

Victoria is the best state to live, work and invest. And what makes us great is our people. Home to a skilled and talented workforce, dynamic and experienced businesses and industries, a jam-packed calendar of events, plus a strong and growing economy: We are the state of ideas, innovation and ambition.

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Victoria is Australia’s sporting capital. The cultural and creative capital. And our nation’s major events capital.

We remain Australia’s number one city for global events. And every year, we host thousands of festivals, exhibitions and acts, bringing millions of people to events spanning sport to art, food to fashion.

In 2023-24, this jam-packed calendar spurred $39 billion in tourism spend, supported by record-breaking crowds at both the Australian Open and the Formula 1® Australian Grand Prix, and fans flocking to see Taylor Swift at the MCG.

Our event calendar has also propelled Melbourne as the number one city for interstate visitors, benefitting local businesses and supporting the largest hotel market in the nation.

In Victoria, our strength lies in our ideas.

Victoria is home to 18 major medical research institutes, 10 universities with four dual sectors, 12 TAFEs and 11 teaching hospitals. These institutions, together with our state’s schools, underpin a highly skilled workforce.

We produce the largest number of tech graduates in the nation – with Australia’s highest-ranking university and largest university. We’re also attracting new talent, with Melbourne consistently ranked as the best student city in Australia – and the fifth-best in the world.

New companies with roots in Victoria are growing to become industry leaders at home and around the world. Victoria is home to more than 3,500 startups – an ecosystem that has grown 23 times larger since 2016 and is now worth $129.3 billion. And we’re proudly the home of 18 ‘unicorns’ (startups valued at more than one billion dollars).

Victoria is also home to more than half of Australia’s top 20 tech companies – with Melbourne host to 62 ASX-listed digital technology companies worth $203 billion.

Some of the biggest global tech companies, such as Microsoft, AWS, Salesforce, Infosys, and Alibaba have chosen to invest in Victoria.

And we’re a world leader in health technology and medical research, with the largest sector in Australia – including ongoing partnerships with global leaders such as Moderna and BioNTech.

Victoria is home to the biggest-employing manufacturing industry in the nation, with over 275,000 workers – contributing 6% to our state’s GSP.

We also punch above our weight in agribusiness, as the number one state for food exports including dairy and horticultural products.

Our world-renowned agribusiness products continue to be our state’s largest merchandise export, valued at over $15 billion in 2023-24.

The Port of Melbourne, Australia’s largest container port, supports more than one-third of the nation’s container trade. While the curfew-free Melbourne Airport and Avalon Airport connects people and Victorian-made goods with markets around the world.

Melbourne is on-track to be biggest city in Australia – growing at a rate of 3.3% a year, or 460 people each and every day.

We’re building for that growth – with Victoria number one in Australia for approving and building new homes. That means we’re building thousands more homes than any other state – with more than 60,000 home completions in the 12 months to June 2024.

We’re building communities too. That includes delivering city-shaping projects like level crossing removals, the Metro Tunnel, the Westgate Tunnel, North East Link and the Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) – transforming the way people move across our state.

Importantly, these projects are connecting Victorians to study, work and opportunities.

Opening next year, the Metro Tunnel will deliver end to end train services from Sunbury to a level crossing free Cranbourne Pakenham line – connecting multiple employment precincts as well as stops at Victoria University in Footscray, University of Melbourne in Parkville, RMIT at StateLibrary and the Monash Caulfield Campus.

The Suburban Rail Loop will further connect our city and suburbs, with stations linking Monash Clayton, Deakin Burwood, La Trobe University and RMIT in Bundoora - as well as a number of health, education and employment zones.

Building for growth

Economic Growth Statement map - Building for growth

A strong economy that’s creating more jobs

Over the last decade, Victoria’s economy has grown in relative terms faster than any other state.

We recorded an increase in gross state product (GSP) of 1.5% in 2023-24, following strong growth of 3.4% in 2022-23.

Our economy is now 11.5% larger in 2023-24 in real terms compared to 2018-19, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

That strong economy has helped to drive employment numbers, with the share of Victorians in a job now close to a record high.

Chart 1: Growth in real gross state product, 2013-14 to 2023-24 (%)

Chart 1 - Growth in real gross state product between 2013-14 and 2023-24 (per cent)

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics

Over 600,000 more Victorians are in work since the peak impacts of the pandemic, with more than 280,000 gaining employment in just the past two years – the fastest jobs growth of any state or territory over this period.

We’ve also achieved the highest jobs growth over the past decade – with nearly one in four jobs in Victoria today created since 2014.

Chart 2: Change in employment, Nov 2014 – Oct 2024 (‘000s)

Chart 2: Change in employment, Nov 2014 – Oct 2024 (‘000s)

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics

Victoria’s business investment surged to record high levels in 2023-24, building on double-digit growth in the previous two years.

Chart 3: Business investment growth, 2013-14 to 2023-24 (%)

Chart 3: Business investment growth, 2013-14 to 2023-24 (%)

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics

In 2023-24, Victorian exports were valued at $69.4 billion, up 17% from the previous year. The Government is also building our global trade partnerships, with the recently launched India Strategy 2025-2030, laying out the Government’s plan to strengthen its relationship with rising economic superpower India.

Our state is also home to the fastest growing export sector in the nation, growing by more than $10 billion in 2023-24.

Business investment is now at its highest share of overall economic activity on record in Victoria.

And we’re attracting even more, with more than 100,000 new businesses created since June 2020 in net terms – at 17.0%, this is the largest percentage growth of any state.

But as much as we have to celebrate– we must also face up to the challenges.

Updated 11 December 2024

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