Tourism Satellite Accounts: quarterly tourism labour statistics, Australia, experimental estimates

This is not the latest release View the latest release

Experimental estimates of quarterly tourism jobs to help explain the impacts of COVID-19 on tourism activity.

Reference period
December 2022
Released
15/03/2023

Key statistics

In December quarter 2022, there were 676,400 tourism jobs: This was:

  • 73,100 (12.1%) more jobs compared to the September quarter 2022
  • 200,500 (42.1%) more jobs compared to the December quarter 2021
  • 1 in 23 (4.4%) filled jobs in the economy
Change in number and percentage of jobs, original series
Dec-22Quarterly changeQuarterly change (%)Annual changeAnnual change (%)
Tourism jobs676,40073,10012.1200,50042.1
Economy-wide jobs15,219,500320,6002.2591,5004.0

Filled jobs

All references to "jobs" are referring to "filled jobs" unless otherwise specified. For information on the various measures of jobs (filled job, Labour Account main job and Labour Account secondary job), please refer to the Glossary in Methodology.

(a) Through the year movement is from one quarter to the corresponding quarter in the previous year. 

Key COVID-19 dates

Tourism industry

Change in number and percentage of jobs by industry, original series
Dec-22Quarterly changeQuarterly change (%)Annual changeAnnual change (%)
Accommodation94,6007,5008.631,10049.0
Cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services237,10024,90011.763,90036.9
Clubs, pubs, taverns and bars53,9006,50013.715,80041.5
Rail transport1,7001006.360054.5
Road transport and transport equipment rental6,5001,10020.42,70071.1
Air, water and other transport41,7001,9004.88,90027.1
Travel agency and information centre services36,60000.03,90011.9
Cultural services10,6001,10011.61,90021.8
Casinos and other gambling services3,50070025.01,50075.0
Sports and recreation services32,000-1,100-3.39,10039.7
Retail trade110,30023,60027.226,90032.3
Education and training29,40000.026,100790.9
All other industries18,4006,70057.38,00076.9

During this quarter, industries with the largest quarterly changes were:

  • cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services: increase of 24,900 jobs (11.7%)
  • retail trade: increase of 23,600 (27.2%)
  • accommodation: increase of 7,500 jobs (8.6%)

Comparing December quarter 2021 with December quarter 2022, industries with the largest changes were:

  • cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services: increase of 63,900 jobs (36.9%)
  • accommodation: increase of 31,100 jobs (49.0%)
  • retail trade: increase of 26,900 jobs (32.3%)
  • education and training: increase of 26,100 jobs (790.9%)

Status in employment

Change in number and percentage of jobs by status in employment, original series
Dec-22Quarterly changeQuarterly change (%)Annual changeAnnual change (%)
Full-time346,60049,00016.5111,20047.2
Part-time329,70024,0007.989,20037.1

During this quarter:

  • full-time jobs increased 16.5% while part-time jobs increased 7.9%

From December quarter 2021 to December quarter 2022:

  • full-time jobs increased 47.2% while part-time jobs increased 37.1%

Sex

Change in number and percentage of jobs by sex, original series
Dec-22Quarterly changeQuarterly change (%)Annual changeAnnual change (%)
Male307,70043,00016.289,30040.9
Female368,70030,1008.9111,30043.2

During this quarter:

  • jobs filled by men increased 16.2% while jobs filled by women increased 8.9%

From December quarter 2021 to December quarter 2022:

  • jobs filled by men increased 40.9% while jobs filled by women increased 43.2%

Sex by status in employment

Change in number and percentage of jobs by sex by status in employment, original series
Dec-22Quarterly changeQuarterly change (%)Annual changeAnnual change (%)
MalePart-time121,20013,80012.835,10040.8
Full-time186,50029,10018.554,20041.0
FemalePart-time208,50010,1005.154,10035.0
Full-time160,20020,00014.357,20055.5

During this quarter:

  • jobs filled by men increased for both full-time (18.5%) and part-time (12.8%)
  • jobs filled by women increased for both full-time (14.3%) and part-time (5.1%)

From December quarter 2021 to December quarter 2022:

  • jobs filled by men increased for both full-time (41.0%) and part-time (40.8%)
  • jobs filled by women increased for both full-time (55.5%) and part-time jobs (35.0%)

Measuring the impacts of COVID-19 on tourism activity

The Australian tourism sector is recovering from the impact of COVID-19 pandemic. This section looks at how tourism has been impacted by comparing estimates of tourism filled jobs at the end of December 2019 with those in the current quarter. The key points are:

  • Tourism jobs peaked at 757,500 in December 2019, and in December quarter 2022 is now at its highest level (676,400 jobs) since the pandemic started.
  • This represents -10.7% (-81,100) less tourism jobs compared to 7.1% (1,007,300) more jobs in the whole economy as at the end of this quarter.

Data downloads

Data files

Related release

Australian National Accounts: Tourism Satellite Account (previously used cat. no. 5249.0)

The 2021-22 issue of Australian National Accounts: Tourism Satellite Account was released on 8 December 2022. While the employment estimates are based on the same source, differences will occur due to the timing of updates to the source data.

Feedback

This new TSA publication contains experimental estimates of quarterly tourism labour statistics. The ABS welcomes comments and suggestions from users regarding this release. If you are interested in contributing, please contact the Customer Assistance Service via the ABS website Contact Us page. 

For inquiries about these and related statistics, contact the Customer Assistance Service via the ABS website Contact Us page. The ABS Privacy Policy outlines how the ABS will handle any personal information that you provide to us.

Create your own tables and visualisations

ABS provide access to a number of other datasets for you to create your own tables and make visualisations. See what's available in Data Explorer.

Caution: Data in Data Explorer is currently released after the 11:30am release on the ABS website. Please check the reference period when using Data Explorer. For information on Data Explorer and how it works, see the Data Explorer user guide.

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 5249.0.55.005.

Back to top of the page