South Australia has been named the second-best economy in the nation, while Western Australia leads the country for a fourth consecutive quarter, but the two most populous states have fallen backwards.
After a strong start to the year, South Australia climbed from fourth to second in the Commonwealth Bank’s State of States report, with an increase in consumer spending, business investment, and construction activity.
The CommSec report sheds insight on which Australian states are performing best economically by tracking eight economic indicators and comparing the latest observations with decade averages.
South Australia has been named as the nation’s second-best economy. (David Mariuz/Fairfax Media)
In the report, the commodities and tourism-focused Western Australia continues to outperform other states, ranking first on four of the eight key indicators.
Population growth remains strong in the state.
“Western Australia led across several economic measures, taking first place in retail trade, housing finance, and business investment,” CommSec chief economist Ryan Felsman said.
“Meanwhile, South Australia ranks first on two indicators, construction work and dwelling starts.
“Overall, the economic performance of Australia’s states and territories is being supported by a combination of slowing inflation, falling interest rates, rising real wages, robust government spending, and a solid labour market.”
The rankings also saw Victoria plummet from second to fourth place.
The drop comes due to a weakness in relative unemployment despite retail spending being 10 per cent above the decade average.
New South Wales also dropped in the rankings, down from fifth to sixth place.