As the largest Victoria coastal city outside of Port Phillip Bay, Warrnambool is the major service centre in the Great South Coast region.
Employment strengths are in the service sectors of health and community, education, food processing, government, retail trade and tourism. Industrial and business activities also occur in the City that supports the broader agricultural and other industry value adding activities.
Great South Coast Region – 6 LGAs Colac-Otway, Corangamite, Moyne, Warrnambool, Southern Grampians and Glenelg. Population 126,000… an increase of circa 3,300 persons over the past decade at 0.3% AAGR
Economic Profile (as of June 2021)
- Gross Regional Product (GRP): $2.4 Billion, representing 28.9% of Great South Coast’s GRP ($8.261B)
- Population: 35,533 with a median age of 42 years.
- Number of Businesses with GST: 2,738
Largest Industries by Employment
Health Care & Social Assistance (23.3%)- Retail Trade (13.5%)
- Education & Training (9.9%)
- Construction (8.7%)
- Accommodation & Food Services (8.5%)
Largest Industries by Output
Construction (15.7%)- Manufacturing (13.1%)
- Health Care & Social Assistance (11.6%)
- Rental, Hiring & Real Estate Services (9.6%)
- Retail Trade (6.0%)
Victorian Regional Cities - Estimated Resident Population 2010-2020
source: ABS Cat. 3218.0 Regional Population growth, Australia
What size and/or rate of growth for Warrnambool? Planning for a population of 50,000 by 2040.
Historic and Projected population, Warrnambool 1986 to 2036
source: ABS Regional population growth Cat. 3218.0 Forecast ID Warrnambool City Council
Warrnambool’s Economic Diversity Index
- Warrnambool ranked 33 of 543 LGAs on Economic Diversity Index*
- Top 6% of all LGAs in Australia
*Economic diversity aims to measure the distribution of activity across an economy. A diverse economy will have activity in all sectors, becoming more diverse as the activity is more evenly distributed across industry sectors. Conversely, an economy which is not diverse will have concentration of activity in a single or very small number of industries.
REMPLAN Economic Diversity Index
Warrnambool Business Counts (jobs)
| Staff size | Warrnambool | Great South Coast | Victoria |
|---|---|---|---|
| Non employing | 1,476 (53.91%) | 7,886 (57.79%) | 394,915 (60.26%) |
| 1-19 | 1,168 (42.66%) | 5,456 (39.99%) | 244,574 (37.32%) |
| 20-199 | 91 (3.32%) | 295 (2.16%) | 14,741 (2.25%) |
| 200+ | 3 (0.11%) | 8 (0.06%) | 1,165 (2.25%) |
| Total | 2,738 | 13,645 | 655,395 |
*Warrnambool businesses employ more than GSC and VIC in terms of the percentage of employing businesses as shown above.
Warrnambool Spending Trend Analysis (Spendmapp by Georgrafia)
What is Spendmapp?
- Takes bank transaction (EFTPOS and credit/debit) data around Australia and then weights this for non-card transactions;
- The total represents a highly accurate account of the economic activity occurring in each Local Government Area (LGA); and
- It counts cardholders and transactions in specified locations, times and types (resident and visitors).
- If you need local spending information for your business, please get in touch with Economic Development Team via ecodev@warrnambool.vic.gov.au.
Who spends money in Warrnambool
| Total Spend (Nov 2021 - Oct 2022) - $973.7M | |
|---|---|
|
Warrnambool residents & businesses - $561.5M
|
Visitors to Warrnambool - $412.1M
|
| How much do we spend outside our City? | How much do we spend Online? |
|---|---|
|
$176.9M
|
$289.3M
|
When do we Spend?
| Jan-Mar | Apr-Jun | Jul-Sep | Oct-Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $199.50M | $166.46M | $194.02M | $239.26M |
| 2021 | $226.22M (UP 13.4%) |
$214.51M (UP 28.87%) |
$195.24M (UP 0.63%) |
$259.33M (UP 8.39%) |
| 2022 | $233.72M (UP 3.32%) |
$233.13M (UP 8.68%) |
$237.42M (UP 21.60%) |
- Quarter to quarter spending analysis shows Warrnambool has recovered strongly.
- Spending of 2021 & 2022 is much greater than pre-Covid19 spending
- Oct-Mar spending is 20% more than Apr-Sep spending (seasonality) "Win in WInter"
Council’s Economic Development Team initiated Win in Winter campaign in June 2022 to raise awareness about slow spending trend that impacts local businesses negatively and provide relevant support to them throughout winter.
Warrnambool experiences more seasonal fluctuation in spending than State average. The winter months are often the quietest time of year with approximately 20% drop in spending as shown above.
Therefore, Council’s Economic Development Team initiated Win in Winter campaign in June 2022 to support the local businesses during the quieter season via the voucher initiative to encourage spending and recognising and promoting local businesses by asking the community to shout about the businesses they love. Further information can be found here.
What do Warrnambool residents spend money on?
| Category | Pre-Covid19 | Value and Growth |
|---|---|---|
| Dining and Entertainment | $127.26M | $189.84M (UP 49.18%) |
| Grocery stores and Supermarkets | $162.86M | $177.03M (UP 8.70%) |
| Transport | $76.13M | $106.84M (UP 40.34%) |
| Professional Services | $82.85M | $89.36M (UP 7.87%) |
| Department stores and clothing | $66.89M | $87.17M (UP 30.31%) |
- The year of 2018-19 was used for the benchmarking of Pre-Covid19 spending
- Spending of 2021 &2022 shows significant growth, compared to pre-Covid19 spending
What do Visitors to Warrnambool spend money on?
| Category | Pre-Covid19 | Value and Growth |
|---|---|---|
| Dining and Entertainment | $53.38M | $85.01M (UP 59.27%) |
| Grocery stores and Supermarkets | $48.60M | $52.03M (UP 7.07%) |
| Transport | $33.41M | $46.92M (UP 40.44%) |
| Department stores and clothing | $32.62M | $42.90M (UP 31.52%) |
| Specialised and Luxury gooods | $24.93M | $36.15M (UP 45.00%) |
- The year of 2018-19 was used for the benchmarking of Pre-Covid19 spending
- Spending of 2021 &2022 shows significant growth, compared to pre-Covid19 spending
Where do our visitors come from? (Nov 2021 - Oct 2022)
| Top 10 Visitings SA2s | Total Spending |
|---|---|
| Moyne West | $77.00M |
| Moyne East | $61.21M |
| Portland | $24.90M |
| Corangamite South | $23.76M |
| Glenelg | $14.62M |
| Hamilton | $13.73M |
| Corangamite North | $9.63M |
| Southern Grampians | $7.06M |
| Camperdown | $6.11M |
| Colac | $4.40M |
- Spending of top 10 areas is 86.33% of top 100 areas
How do events impact Warrnambool
Warrnambool Racing Carnival 2022
| Date | Dining and Entertainment Spending | % Growth compared to Event day |
|---|---|---|
| 24 Dec 2021 | $879,642 | Down 12.20% |
| 31 Dec 2021 | $942,946 | Down 5.89% |
| 28 April 2022 (One week before) | $511,299 | Down 48.97% |
| 5 May 2022 (Grand Annual Day) | $1,001,924 | |
| 12 May 2022 (One week after) | $411,946 | Down 58.88% |
2022 Racing Carnival was used in the above as an example of how a festival contributes to local economy. Events and festivals can create a positive impact on local economy as it drives up consumption and attract visitors to the city, which stimulate the growth of tourism and other businesses in the city. Warrnambool exhibits more spending fluctuations in winter than Victoria State average. The social benefits of events and festivals are equally important as they foster community price, let us learn new things and strengthen social cohesion.