Report finds copyright industries fourth largest contributor to Australian economy

The Australian copyright industries, including ‘press and literature’, is the fourth biggest industry contributor to Australia’s economy, according to a report commissioned by the Australian Copyright Council (ACC).

The report, which is the fourth commissioned by the ACC from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the first since 2011, studied the Australian copyright industries from 2002-2014.

The report found that the ‘press and literature’ industry, which includes book production, grew marginally at an annual rate of 0.4% from 2002 to 2014. Within this period, the industry declined at an annual rate of 1.2% from 2008 to 2014, after growth of 2.5% from 2002 to 2007. Employment in the sector fell 1.6% annually over the 2002-2014 period, with a 3.9% drop annually from 2008-2014 following 1.0% gain each year from 2002-2007.

The report also found that in 2014 the Australian copyright industries employed a little more than one million people—or 8.7% of the Australian workforce; generated economic value of $111.4bn—or 7.1% of GDP; and generated $4.8bn in exports—or 1.8% of total exports. Over the period of the study the Australian copyright industries went from the seventh biggest industry in the Australian economy to the fourth biggest industry, behind the financial and insurance services, mining and construction industries.

The average wage for people employed in the Australian copyright industries increased from $59,500 in 2004-05 to $68,960 in 2013-14.

Category: Local news