Economy of Sydney

As of September 2003, the unemployment rate in Sydney was 5.3%. As of December 2005, Sydney has the highest median house price of any Australian capital city at $485 000. According to The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Worldwide cost of living survey, Sydney is the sixteenth most expensive city in the world. It is worth noting that, Australia as a country has by far the most overvalued houses in the Western world, with prices 52 per cent higher than justified by rental values, says OECD in a report published in November 2005.

The economy of Sydney is large and diverse, the sectors with the largest percentage of employed persons include property and business services, retail, manufacturing and health and community services.

Since the 1980s there has been a de-industrialisation of the Sydney economy, with jobs moving from manufacturing to the services and information sectors, Sydney is now established as the corporate and financial capital of Australia and is also an important financial centre in the Asia-Pacific.

Sydney is home to the Australian Stock Exchange and the Reserve Bank of Australia, a number of major Australian banks, and many major Australian corporations, it also serves as the regional headquarters for numerous multinational corporations. 20th Century Fox has large Sydney studios.