For more information email: economics@aigroup.com.au
Contacts for this report:
Australian manufacturing has undergone significant transformation over the past few decades. It is a hub for research and development, capital investment and innovative businesses and products. It is our sixth largest industry, produces $137 billion of value-added output and employs 930,000 people. It generated 12.4% of Australia’s exports and 7.9% of our capex investment in 2024, despite being only 5.1% of GDP.
Ai Group’s report on manufacturing explores the industry’s unique strengths and challenges with analysis of key performance factors such as economic and demand conditions, cost pressures, trade exposure, workforce needs and investment.
For more information email: economics@aigroup.com.au
Contacts for this report:
Jeffrey Wilson is Head of Research and Economics at the Australian Industry Group.
He leads our economics team and provides strategic direction in developing the research program to support our advocacy, service delivery and policy activities.
Dr Wilson specialises in international economic policy, with a focus on how trade and investment shape the Australian business environment.
Colleen Dowling is the Research Manager at the Australian Industry Group, where she delivers the organisation’s proprietary research program, providing a strong data-driven evidence base for advocacy, strategy, and policy development.
With over a decade of experience in industry-focused research, Colleen has worked across the wholesale, retail, and tertiary education sectors, giving her a broad and practical understanding of the business landscape. Her work plays a key role in identifying the challenges and opportunities facing Australian businesses.
Colleen holds a Master of Business Management and a Bachelor of Arts from Monash University.
Jeenat Jabbar is an economist in the Research & Economics team at the Australian Industry Group. Her work focuses on delivering robust quantitative analysis across a range of data sources to inform strategic decision-making and policy development.
Jeenat’s research interests include labour market dynamics, migration, and wellbeing, with a particular emphasis on the economic contributions of migrants in Australia.
Dr Jabbar holds a PhD in Economics from RMIT University, a Master of Business Informatics from Ural Federal University, Russia and a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Asian University, Bangladesh.
