 | MEDIA RELEASE |  |
December 17, 2009 | Embargoed: 11.30 am (AEDT) | 105/2009 |
Australians earned $500 billion in 06-07: ABS
Australians earned more than $500 billion in personal income in 2006-07, according to estimates released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Income from wages and salaries accounted for more than three quarters - or $392 billion - of the total.
Income from investments was the second largest income source, representing around one-tenth of personal income ($53 billion).
The third largest income source was from people who own unincorporated businesses, with earnings of $33 billion.
From 2003-04 to 2006-07 investment income grew at an average annual rate of 15.5%, while wages and salary income grew at an average of 7.4%.
Other findings include:
- Wage and salary earners in the areas of Mosman, Woollahra and Hunter's Hill in Sydney had the highest average wage and salary incomes in Australia, at $106,397, $85,225 and $77,798 respectively.
- The top two average own unincorporated business income regions were in the Perth areas of Peppermint Grove ($71,647) and Cottesloe ($69,795).
- Outside of the capital cities, seven of the ten regions with the largest average investment incomes were in Queensland, with the largest in Main Beach-South Stradbroke in Queensland ($25,803).
Top ten average wage and salary incomes | Top ten average investment incomes |
 |  |  |
1 | Mosman (A) (NSW) | $106,397 |  | 1 | Woollahra (A) (NSW) | $57,810 |
2 | Woollahra (A) (NSW) | $85,225 |  | 2 | Mosman (A) (NSW) | $42,049 |
3 | Hunters Hill (A) (NSW) | $77,798 |  | 3 | Peppermint Grove (S) (WA) | $41,010 |
4 | North Sydney (A) (NSW) | $72,939 |  | 4 | Cottesloe (T) (WA) | $40,144 |
5 | Ku-ring-gai (A) (NSW) | $71,371 |  | 5 | Mosman Park (T) (WA) | $39,586 |
6 | Leichhardt (A) (NSW) | $68,703 |  | 6 | Stonnington (C) - Prahran (Vic.) | $38,834 |
7 | Lane Cove (A) (NSW) | $67,777 |  | 7 | Hunters Hill (A) (NSW) | $33,865 |
8 | Willoughby (C) (NSW) | $67,687 |  | 8 | Ascot (Qld) | $32,691 |
9 | Manly (A) (NSW) | $66,365 |  | 9 | Hamilton (Qld) | $32,686 |
10 | Bayside (C) Brighton (Vic.) | $66,283 |  | 10 | Nedlands (C) (WA) | $32,366 |
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Further detail is available in
Estimates of Personal Income for Small Areas, Time Series, 2003-04 to 2006-07 (cat. no. 6524.0.55.002), available for free download from the ABS website <www.abs.gov.au>.