Australian Defence Industry Account, experimental estimates

Latest release

Estimates of the defence industry's direct contribution to the Australian economy

Reference period

2023-24 financial year

Released

16/04/2025

Next release Unknown

Key statistics

In 2023-24, the Australian defence industry:

contributed $11.9b (0.47%) to Australia’s gross value added, up 12.4% from the previous year
employed 69,400 persons, up 9.1% from the previous year
consisted of 5,539 Australian businesses.

Australian defence industry

For an activity to be included in the Australian Defence Industry Account (ADIA), there must be a direct relationship between the Department of Defence and an Australian supplier of a good or service. Only invoices from the supplier to the Department of Defence are included in the account. For example, if a vehicle manufacturer supplies vehicles to several industries within the economy, the ADIA only captures the activity associated with the defence industry.

Defence industry Gross Value Added (GVA)

GVA represents the additional economy value added through the creation of a product or the provision of a service. It removes the costs of intermediate inputs used to create the product or service from the amount received by the seller. It is the standard indicator to assess the contribution of an industry or sub-sector to the broader economy.

GVA from Defence expenditure contributed $11.9b to the Australian economy in 2023-24. This was an increase of 12.4% from the previous year compared to a 4.0% increase in total economy GVA.

Defence expenditure contributed 0.47% of the total economy’s GVA in 2023-24.

Defence industry GVA at current prices
	Defence industry GVA ($m)
2016-17	6,205
2017-18	7,004
2018-19	7,466
2019-20	8,234
2020-21	8,647
2021-22	10,172
2022-23	10,552
2023-24	11,864

Defence industry GVA at current prices

["","Defence industry GVA ($m)"]

[["2016-17","2017-18","2018-19","2019-20","2020-21","2021-22","2022-23","2023-24"],[[6205],[7004],[7466],[8234],[8647],[10172],[10552],[11864]]]

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Defence industry share of total economy GVA at current prices(a)
	Defence industry share of GVA (%)
2016-17	0.38
2017-18	0.41
2018-19	0.41
2019-20	0.44
2020-21	0.44
2021-22	0.47
2022-23	0.44
2023-24	0.47

Defence industry share of total economy GVA at current prices(a)

["","Defence industry share of GVA (%)"]

[["2016-17","2017-18","2018-19","2019-20","2020-21","2021-22","2022-23","2023-24"],[[0.38],[0.40999999999999998],[0.40999999999999998],[0.44],[0.44],[0.46999999999999997],[0.44],[0.46999999999999997]]]

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(a) This contribution does not reflect the total contribution of the Defence portfolio to the Australian economy. It only captures the GVA generated by the invoiced expenditure made by the Department of Defence within the scope of the Australian economy.

Industry overview

The largest industry divisions contributing to defence industry GVA were:

Professional, scientific and technical services with 45.4% of GVA
Manufacturing with 16.5% of GVA
Construction with 13.2% of GVA.

Combined, these industries account for 75.1% of the total defence industry GVA.

Spending in the defence industry is often linked to construction and manufacturing projects. However, the planning and delivery of these projects involve engineering, computer system design and technical expertise. This expertise is part of Professional, scientific, and technical services.

Defence industry GVA at current prices by ANZSIC division
	2019-20 ($m)	2020-21 ($m)	2021-22 ($m)	2022-23 ($m)	2023-24 ($m)
Professional, scientific and technical services	3,294	3,427	4,332	4,789	5,384
Manufacturing	1,454	1,529	1,619	1,686	1,961
Construction	1,342	1,435	1,555	1,503	1,564
Transport, postal and warehousing	360	371	477	441	533
Administrative and support services	170	193	240	265	299
Information media and telecommunications	224	177	276	273	287
Education and training	180	189	226	229	255
Public administration and safety	164	200	194	189	221
Electricity, gas, water and waste services	108	103	101	109	124
other industries	938	1,023	1,152	1,068	1,236

Defence industry GVA at current prices by ANZSIC division

["","2019-20","2020-21","2021-22","2022-23","2023-24"]

[["Professional, scientific and technical services","Manufacturing","Construction","Transport, postal and warehousing","Administrative and support services","Information media and telecommunications","Education and training","Public administration and safety","Electricity, gas, water and waste services","other industries"],[[3294],[1454],[1342],[360],[170],[224],[180],[164],[108],[938]],[[3427],[1529],[1435],[371],[193],[177],[189],[200],[103],[1023]],[[4332],[1619],[1555],[477],[240],[276],[226],[194],[101],[1152]],[[4789],[1686],[1503],[441],[265],[273],[229],[189],[109],[1068]],[[5384],[1961],[1564],[533],[299],[287],[255],[221],[124],[1236]]]

[]

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At the subdivision level the main contributors to defence industry GVA were:

Professional, scientific, and technical services (except computer system design and related services) with 29.1% of GVA
Computer system design and related services with 16.3% of GVA
Transport equipment manufacturing with 13.0% of GVA
Building construction with 7.5% of GVA.

Main ANZSIC subdivision contributors to defence industry GVA
	Professional, scientific and technical services (except Computer system design and related services) (%)	Computer system design and related services (%)	Transport equipment manufacturing (%)	Building construction (%)
2019-20	24.4	15.6	14.0	10.0
2020-21	25.1	14.6	14.0	9.7
2021-22	26.1	16.5	12.9	9.3
2022-23	29.4	16.0	12.8	8.8
2023-24	29.1	16.3	13.0	7.5

Main ANZSIC subdivision contributors to defence industry GVA

["","Professional, scientific and technical services (except Computer system design and related services)","Computer system design and related services","Transport equipment manufacturing","Building construction"]

[["2019-20","2020-21","2021-22","2022-23","2023-24"],[[24.399999999999999],[25.100000000000001],[26.100000000000001],[29.399999999999999],[29.100000000000001]],[[15.6],[14.6],[16.5],[16],[16.300000000000001]],[[14],[14],[12.9],[12.800000000000001],[13]],[[10],[9.6999999999999993],[9.3000000000000007],[8.8000000000000007],[7.5]]]

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State overview

The largest contributors to defence industry GVA by state were:

New South Wales ($3,462m)
Victoria ($2,544m)
South Australia ($1,957m).

The main contributors to the $1,312m growth in defence industry GVA between 2022-23 and 2023-24 were:

South Australia (up $425m)
Victoria (up $329m)
New South Wales (up $140m).

Defence industry GVA by state/territory(a)
	2019-20 ($m)	2020-21 ($m)	2021-22 ($m)	2022-23 ($m)	2023-24 ($m)
New South Wales	2,312	2,498	3,026	3,322	3,462
Victoria	1,735	1,774	2,258	2,215	2,544
Queensland	992	1,016	1,074	1,121	1,246
South Australia	977	1,091	1,402	1,532	1,957
Western Australia	551	570	598	677	808
Tasmania	8	11	19	17	10
Northern Territory	75	67	122	50	114
Australian Capital Territory	1,583	1,620	1,674	1,618	1,723

Defence industry GVA by state/territory(a)

["","2019-20","2020-21","2021-22","2022-23","2023-24"]

[["New South Wales","Victoria","Queensland","South Australia","Western Australia","Tasmania","Northern Territory","Australian Capital Territory"],[[2312],[1735],[992],[977],[551],[8],[75],[1583]],[[2498],[1774],[1016],[1091],[570],[11],[67],[1620]],[[3026],[2258],[1074],[1402],[598],[19],[122],[1674]],[[3322],[2215],[1121],[1532],[677],[17],[50],[1618]],[[3462],[2544],[1246],[1957],[808],[10],[114],[1723]]]

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(a) Defence GVA to external territories has been included in the nearest physical state/territory.

Business counts

Nationwide, 5,539 Australian businesses contributed to the Australian defence industry in 2023-24. The industries with the highest number of businesses were:

Professional, scientific and technical services (1,516 businesses)
Manufacturing (904 businesses)
Education and training (462 businesses).

Business counts by industry
	2023-24 (Number of businesses)
Professional, scientific and technical services	1,516
Manufacturing	904
Education and training	462
Construction	451
Other services	393
other industries	1,813

Business counts by industry

["","2023-24"]

[["Professional, scientific and technical services","Manufacturing","Education and training","Construction","Other services","other industries"],[[1516],[904],[462],[451],[393],[1813]]]

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Employment overview

Defence industry direct employment

The number of paid employees associated with the defence industry is estimated based on the proportion of the employee headcount funded by direct payments from Defence. This includes all part-time and full-time employees, with some counted multiple times if they work for more than one business. The ADIA estimates the employment associated with defence expenditure, not employment generated by it.

The number of employees associated with defence expenditure increased by 5,800 (9.1%) from 63,600 in 2022-23 to 69,400 in 2023-24. In comparison, total employed persons in Australia grew by 2.5%.

In 2023-24, Defence contributed 0.48% of the economy’s total employment.

Defence industry direct employment headcount
	Defence industry direct employment headcount ('000)
2019-20	51.1
2020-21	53.9
2021-22	60.6
2022-23	63.6
2023-24	69.4

Defence industry direct employment headcount

["","Defence industry direct employment headcount"]

[["2019-20","2020-21","2021-22","2022-23","2023-24"],[[51.100000000000001],[53.899999999999999],[60.600000000000001],[63.600000000000001],[69.400000000000006]]]

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The main industries contributing to defence industry employment were:

Professional, scientific, and technical services (24,400 employees)
Construction (13,300 employees)
Manufacturing (11,400 employees).

Combined, these industries consistently contributed around 70% of the total defence industry employment between 2019-20 and 2023-24.

Defence industry direct employment headcount by ANZSIC division
	2019-20 ('000)	2020-21 ('000)	2021-22 ('000)	2022-23 ('000)	2023-24 ('000)
Professional, scientific and technical services	15.0	15.4	18.4	21.4	24.4
Construction	11.9	13.3	15.1	13.4	13.3
Manufacturing	9.3	10.0	10.3	10.8	11.4
Transport, postal and warehousing	3.6	2.6	4.0	3.9	4.1
Administrative and support services	1.7	2.0	2.1	2.7	2.9
Education and training	2.2	2.4	2.7	2.7	2.8
other industries	7.4	8.2	8.0	8.7	10.5

Defence industry direct employment headcount by ANZSIC division

["","2019-20","2020-21","2021-22","2022-23","2023-24"]

[["Professional, scientific and technical services","Construction","Manufacturing","Transport, postal and warehousing","Administrative and support services","Education and training","other industries"],[[15],[11.9],[9.3000000000000007],[3.6000000000000001],[1.7],[2.2000000000000002],[7.4000000000000004]],[[15.4],[13.300000000000001],[10],[2.6000000000000001],[2],[2.3999999999999999],[8.1999999999999993]],[[18.399999999999999],[15.1],[10.300000000000001],[4],[2.1000000000000001],[2.7000000000000002],[8]],[[21.399999999999999],[13.4],[10.800000000000001],[3.8999999999999999],[2.7000000000000002],[2.7000000000000002],[8.6999999999999993]],[[24.399999999999999],[13.300000000000001],[11.4],[4.0999999999999996],[2.8999999999999999],[2.7999999999999998],[10.5]]]

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The states with the highest direct employment headcount were:

New South Wales (22,700 employees)
Victoria (14,900 employees)
South Australia (9,900 employees).

The largest increases in direct employment headcount between 2022-23 and 2023-24 were in:

Victoria (up 1,300 employees)
South Australia (up 1,300 employees)
New South Wales (up 700 employees).

Defence industry direct employment headcount by state/territory(a)
	2019-20 ('000)	2020-21 ('000)	2021-22 ('000)	2022-23 ('000)	2023-24 ('000)
New South Wales	16.5	18.6	20.9	22	22.7
Victoria	10.7	10.8	13.5	13.6	14.9
Queensland	6	6.3	6.4	7	7.4
South Australia	5.8	6.5	7.7	8.6	9.9
Western Australia	3	3	3.5	4	4.6
Tasmania	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.2	np
Northern Territory	0.6	0.4	0.5	0.3	np
Australian Capital Territory	8.5	8.1	7.9	7.9	8.3

Defence industry direct employment headcount by state/territory(a)

["","2019-20","2020-21","2021-22","2022-23","2023-24"]

[["New South Wales","Victoria","Queensland","South Australia","Western Australia","Tasmania","Northern Territory","Australian Capital Territory"],[[16.5],[10.699999999999999],[6],[5.7999999999999998],[3],[0.10000000000000001],[0.59999999999999998],[8.5]],[[18.600000000000001],[10.800000000000001],[6.2999999999999998],[6.5],[3],[0.10000000000000001],[0.40000000000000002],[8.0999999999999996]],[[20.899999999999999],[13.5],[6.4000000000000004],[7.7000000000000002],[3.5],[0.20000000000000001],[0.5],[7.9000000000000004]],[[22],[13.6],[7],[8.5999999999999996],[4],[0.20000000000000001],[0.29999999999999999],[7.9000000000000004]],[[22.699999999999999],[14.9],[7.4000000000000004],[9.9000000000000004],[4.5999999999999996],[null],[null],[8.3000000000000007]]]

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(a) Defence employment headcount in external territories has been included in the nearest physical state/territory.

Revisions

Users should be aware that there are some revisions in this release due to changes in the reported data and process improvements, including enhancements to product and industry coding.

Changes in this issue

The method used to allocate Defence expenditure to Sector has been improved. This has led to revisions to the Sector distribution for GVA in Table 9.

Data downloads

Australian defence industry data cube

Data files

Download xlsx [185.39 KB]

Methodology

Australian Defence Industry Account, experimental estimates methodology, 2023-24 financial year

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APA

Citation

Australian Defence Industry Account, experimental estimates

APA

Citation

Key statistics

Australian defence industry

Defence industry Gross Value Added (GVA)

Industry overview

State overview

Business counts

Employment overview

Defence industry direct employment

Revisions

Changes in this issue

Data downloads

Australian defence industry data cube

Methodology

Do you need more detailed statistics?

Request data

Microdata and TableBuilder

Provide feedback

APA

Australian Defence Industry Account, experimental estimates

APA

Key statistics

Australian defence industry

Defence industry Gross Value Added (GVA)

Industry overview

State overview

Business counts

Employment overview

Defence industry direct employment

Revisions

Changes in this issue

Data downloads

Australian defence industry data cube

Methodology

Media releases

Australian defence industry grows by 12.4%

Do you need more detailed statistics?

Request data

Microdata and TableBuilder