Tasmania was a better place to live than ever before, Treasurer Peter Gutwein said following figures showing the economy was growing at its fastest pace in a decade.
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Australian Bureau of Statistics gross state product figures on Friday showed the state economy grew by 3.3 per cent in 2017-18 to $30.27 billion.
That was stronger than national gross domestic product growth of 2.8 per cent and was Tasmania’s best performance since 2007-08, around the start of the Global Financial Crisis.
Mr Gutwein said Tasmania was booming and had the third strongest state economy in the nation.
”A priority for the Hodgman Liberal government is to ensure that even more Tasmanians and their communities benefit from the record jobs and economic growth generated from strong economic management,” he said.
“Our plan for Tasmania is delivering record investment into health, education and infrastructure, and has pushed business confidence up to the highest levels in the country.
“The growth in Tasmania’s economy was driven by a number of factors, including household consumption growth of 2.9 per cent, which shows that Tasmanians are more confident and spending more.
“This is great news for our retailers as we head into the busy Christmas period.”
He said machinery and equipment investment by businesses grew by 49.2 per cent, showing businesses were expecting more growth.
“This goes hand in hand with total business investment growth of 17.4 per cent,” he said.
“And, once again confirming that the world wants what Tasmania is producing, growth in exports of Tasmanian products over the year was 19.3 per cent.”