Did you know? Fast facts about Australian manufacturing

• Australia ranks last place out of 33 countries in the OECD for collaboration.
  [1]

• When it comes to converting research dollars into innovation and commercial success – Australia ranks poorly coming in at 116th out of 142 countries.[2]

• And yet, Australians rank 2nd in the world as “problem-solvers”. [3] The OECD Skills Outlook report in 2013 rated Australia second in the world, just behind Norway and ahead of Japan, Germany, the UK, the USA and South Korea, on complex problem solving measures.

• Recent research from the UN Conference on Trade and Development reveals that Australia’s participation rate in global value chains is lower than that of 22 of the 25 largest-exporting economies. This means that Australia is missing out on a lot of opportunities to value-add, as we trade increasingly in raw materials instead of using our human capital—our ideas and our imagination—to our greatest advantage.

• In 2011, Australia spent just .227% of Gross Domestic Spending on R&D in manufacturing. This compares to the US, which spent 1.29% and Germany, which spent 1.33% – almost six times Australia’s level.

• The Australian Government spends $9 billion a year on Research, through grants to the higher education sector (60 per cent), to research institutions such as the DSTO, NHMRC and CSIRO, and through tax incentives.

• Manufacturing CAPEX (capital expenditure) in Australia peaked in 2005 and has never fully recovered. It’s now at its lowest level since 2001.

• Australia has one of the lowest numbers of researchers in business enterprises (PhD graduates) in developed nations (3 workers per 1000)[4]. This compares to Finland (14 per 1000), the US (9 per 1000) and Germany (7 per 1000).

• The fourth industrial revolution, or what the Germans refer to as ‘Industry 4.0’, is set to become a reality in the coming decade. Also known as ‘integrated industry’, this revolution will revolve around smart products, procedures and processes.

• In net terms, since 1994 employment Australia’s manufacturing sector has fallen from 1.1 million workers to approximately 950,000 workers – or a decline of around 15%, but still remains the country’s equal 5th largest sector, contributing 6.3 per cent of Australia’s total GDP

• Multinational Enterprise (MNE) coordinated Global Value Chains are estimated to account for 80% of global trade. [5]  

[1] OECD 2013.[2] The Global Innovation Index 2013, p. 135.[3] OECD Skills Outlook report 2013.[4] Pettigrew, A. G. (2012) Australia’s Position in the World of Science, Technology and Innovation, Occasional Paper Series, Issue 2. Office of the Chief Scientist, Canberra.[5] OECD, WTO, UNCTAD, IMPLICATIONS OF GLOBAL VALUE CHAINS FOR TRADE, INVESTMENT, DEVELOPMENT AND JOBS, 6 August 2013, p.7, 23