Qld Economic update

POPULATION

  • Queensland’s population continues to grow at a rate of approx 1,500 people per week up to the end of the September 2011 quarter, to be almost 4.6 million1.
  • Queensland’s annual rate of growth is 1.7%, compared to the national rate of 1.4%1.

CPI

  • Brisbane’s CPI, increased 0.2% in the March 2012 quarter, to be 1.3% higher for the year2.
  • On an annual basis, Brisbane has recorded the lowest increase to date2.
  • In Brisbane, food and non-alcoholic beverages, recorded the largest detraction from inflation in the March 2012 quarter (-0.33 of a percentage point), interestingly within this category, fruit decreased by 28.6% in the quarter2.
  • In Brisbane the Health and Education groups both made the equal largest contribution to inflation in the March 2012 quarter (+0.29 of a percentage point) 2
  • Pharmaceutical products increased the most (14.5%), with secondary education increasing 9.8% in the March quarter2

RETAIL

  • In seasonally adjusted terms, Queensland’s had the highest national growth in retail turnover with an increase of 1.5% in the month of February 2012, compared the national average of 0.2%1.
  • Growth was partially attributed to the interest rate cuts in late 2011

EMPLOYMENT

  • Queensland’s unemployment remained steady at 5.5% at the end of March 20121.

REAL ESTATE

  • Dwelling approvals show a 1.5% increase in the month of February1
  • This increase was mainly driven by a 3.0% rise in private sector housing approvals, which have now shown growth for 6 consecutive months1
  • Another positive sign was the 0.4% improvement in the housing price index (March 2012) to the December quarter3.

NEW CAR SALES

  • February new car sales slowed slightly by 0.5%, however remain 7.0% up over the year1.

TOURISM

  • The latest International Visitor Survey, published by Tourism Research Australia (TRA), shows that the total number of overseas arrivals to Queensland declined 9.8% in the second half of the 20114.
  • The latest National Visitor Survey, also published by the TRA, indicated that more Australians opted to holiday overseas, with falls in the number of nights spent by tourists from interstate falling by 16.1%.
  • The main declines in interstate visitors to Queensland were out of NSW & VIC4
  • Declines were mainly attributed to the strong $A and competition from overseas destinations

1 Queensland Economic Review, OESR, April 2012

2 OESR, Consumer Price Index, March Quarter 2012

3 Australian Bureau of Statistics, cat. 6416.0 – House Price Indexes: Eight Capital Cities, Mar 2012

4 Acknowledged documents, accessed via the Queensland Economic Review, OESR, April 2012