Infrastructure and the Economy
Chapter 10
This chapter provides data on the Australian economy, including the gross value added and employment in the transport and storage industry.
- 4.5 per cent of Australia’s GDP was accounted for by Australia’s transport, postal and warehousing industry in 2024-25.
- 273 thousand people were employed in the road transport industry compared to 47 thousand in the rail industry.
- 80 per cent of people employed by the road transport industry identify as male.
The gross value added of transport, postal and warehousing as a percentage of GDP has remained relatively stable since 1974–75, generally ranging between 4-5% of GDP. In terms of employment, although employment in the transport, postal and warehousing industry has grown in overall terms, as a percentage of total Australian employment, it has stayed at around 5% for the last 30 years.
Figure 18 shows employment statistics for various transport industries as at August of each year.
Figure 18 Australian employment numbers in selected major infrastructure industries
Note: This data refers to employment in August of each reference year.
Source: ABS (2025), Labour Force Australia, detailed, Canberra
Figure 19 shows employment in the road and rail industries by gender from 2023 to 2025. In 2025, there were around 230 thousand male employees compared with fewer than 50 thousand female employees. In contrast, the rail industry has a smaller workforce overall, but displays a somewhat more balanced distribution. Male employment in rail industry is consistently higher than the female employment, though the gap is narrower than in the road transport sector. Over the past three years both road and rail workforces have been declining.
Figure 19 Employment in road and rail industries, by gender
Source: ABS (2025), Labour Force Australia, detailed, Canberra
Download data
- Infrastructure and the Economy—Yearbook 2025 (113 KB) - Download Excel file
- Australian Infrastructure and Transport Statistics Yearbook 2025 - Download PDF