1 in 16 Australians work in manufacturing

When I was researching Australian manufacturing stats recently, I was pleasantly surprised when I came across this number (I thought it was lower😥) from Australian Bureau of Statistics (June 2023). It seems that the tide is finally turning for most Australian manufacturing sectors, with the industry increasing by 17.8%, triggered by the pandemic and now holding firm.

In 2020, 93% of Australians would have preferred to buy Australian made, with this number increasing to 96% in 2021👏

Narrowing down to the apparel industry, our industry is expected to contribute AU$21.72 billion to the Australian economy this year. This is an increase of more than 2% and is 1.5% of our GDP.

Of this apparel industry, only 3% of our garments are made in Australia😟, although this number is growing slightly year on year since 2020. (SMH) This 3% equates to 38 million garments that are made in Australia per year.

In research by Roy Morgan, it has been found that if Australian households spend just $10 a week on Australian made goods (of any sort- not just clothing), this will contribute $5 million to our economy and create an additional 11,000 jobs.

Yes, $10 per week may be a stretch for a lot of us at the moment in this current economic climate but what if we spent just a quarter of that- $2.50 per week? That would be an extra $1.25 million in our economy and 2,750 extra jobs. That is still a win in my eyes!

I'll leave you with a great quote I found from Kate Dillon of She Lion-

“People always say ‘Australian made is so expensive,’ but what people should be saying is, ‘Why is imported clothing so cheap?’

Jocelyn