Queensland’s economy has slipped in the rankings compared to other Australian states.
The Sunshine State has lost its second placing to Victoria in the latest CommSec State of the States report.
Chief CommSec Economist Ryan Felsman said, for the third quarter in a row, Western Australia topped the economic leaderboard, while Victoria leapfrogged both Queensland and South Australia.
Mr Fetsman said the report determined which Australian state or territory economy was performing best by tracking eight key economic indicators and comparing the latest observation with decade averages.
“Western Australia performed strongly across multiple economic indicators, as the West’s’ strong relative population growth has boosted labour and housing markets, encouraging consumers to spend,” he said.
“Overall, the economic performance of Australia’s states and territories is being supported by a strong job market, robust government spending and solid population growth at a time of higher cost-of-living pressures.”
Mr Fetsman said economic growth had slowed however, as consumer spending remained subdued due to still-elevated borrowing costs.
“As we look ahead, an expected reduction in interest rates could boost economic sentiment in the mortgage-sensitive states of New South Wales and Victoria, while the interplay between interest rate cuts, federal election outcomes, and global trade dynamics will be crucial in shaping the economic outlook.”
He said In the April 2025 edition of the State of the States:
- Western Australia ranked first on five economic indicators: retail spending, relative unemployment, relative population growth, housing finance and dwelling starts.
- Victoria moved up from fourth to second place, leading on construction work done and ranking second on retail spending and third on relative population growth. The state however finished bottom of the table on relative unemployment.
- Queensland slipped one spot to third place, performing well across the housing finance, dwelling starts and retail spending indicators, despite weak equipment investment.
- South Australia dropped from equal second to fourth position on the leaderboard, ranking second on three indicators but held back by lower rankings on economic growth, equipment investment and relative population growth.
- Tasmania was steady in joint fifth spot – leading on equipment spending.
- NSW moved up to equal fifth from sixth position and now ranks first on economic growth.
- The ACT remained seventh – in that position on three indicators.
- The Northern Territory stayed in eighth place, however the decade-average method of assessing economic performance disadvantaged the Top End given significant LNG construction over 2012-18 inflated a range of economic indicators.
