Construction

Overview

EMPLOYED

1,379,800

PART-TIME SHARE

14%

WORKFORCE SHARE

9.5%

FEMALE SHARE

13%

MEDIAN WEEKLY EARNINGS

$1,598

MEDIAN AGE

37

About this data

Construction is a large employing industry. Around 9.5% of workers have their main job in this industry.

Businesses in this industry are mainly involved in activities like:

  • demolition, clearing and site preparation
  • residential and non-residential building
  • heavy and civil engineering construction
  • other construction services.

Median earnings are $1,598 per week, lower than all industries median earnings of $1,700.

Details

On this page

    Employment

    Employment in the Construction industry grew over the 20 years to February 2025.
    The number of workers grew by 47,500 (or 3.6%) over the last year.

    Source: ABS, Labour Force Survey, Detailed, February 2025, Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) trend data.
    Note: Over the COVID-19 pandemic period (highlighted section in the chart above), some industries have censored values, resulting in a broken series for impacted industries. This is due to large quarterly fluctuations in employment resulting in trend data being unreliable for these quarters. Where data are available over the COVID-19 pandemic period, JSA recommends caution when using these trend estimates.
    Quarterly employment, Construction Employment
    824700
    836500
    847200
    858800
    872200
    885900
    900300
    914500
    925400
    932700
    940400
    951600
    963600
    972300
    978200
    981700
    982700
    981300
    979500
    980300
    984000
    988700
    993700
    1000100
    1004900
    1006900
    1004400
    999100
    991900
    984500
    980500
    983300
    989400
    995300
    1001400
    1007000
    1013700
    1020200
    1025700
    1030100
    1032600
    1035100
    1038800
    1045400
    1053700
    1062500
    1072000
    1086300
    1105300
    1125200
    1143900
    1159400
    1170000
    1173600
    1173500
    1172000
    1172200
    1174300
    1176500
    1178100
    1176900
    1171800
    1165000
    1158700
    1152700
    1148600
    1149500
    1160500
    1181300
    1209600
    1242500
    1273000
    1296200
    1310500
    1319200
    1326300
    1332300
    1339200
    1348200
    1363200
    1379800

    Sectors

    Building Installation Services is the largest sector in the Construction industry, employing 318,300 workers.

    Source: ABS, Labour Force Survey, Detailed, February 2025, Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) trend data.
    Note: the sum of sectoral employment may not equal the industry total as data are trended separately, and not further defined (nfd) classifications have been excluded.
    Employment by industry sectors Employment
    Building Installation Services 318300
    Building Completion Services 227800
    Residential Building Construction 159700
    Other Construction Services 132600
    Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction 126900
    Building Structure Services 103000
    Non-Residential Building Construction 74600
    Land Development and Site Preparation Services 57800

    Occupations

    Electricians is the largest employing occupation in the Construction industry.

    The 10 largest employing occupations are shown below.

    Some occupations are common across a number of industries.

    Largest employing occupations

    Source: Ranked using ABS, Labour Force Survey, 2024, four-quarter average data, customised report.
    ANZSCO CodeOccupation title
    3411Electricians
    3312Carpenters and Joiners
    1331Construction Managers
    3341Plumbers
    8211Building and Plumbing Labourers
    3322Painting Trades Workers
    3121Architectural, Building and Surveying Technicians
    7212Earthmoving Plant Operators
    3622Gardeners
    8212Concreters
    On this page

      Data Downloads

      Industry data

      This file contains data for all 19 industries to make comparing industry data easy. Information available includes:

      • industry overview
      • industry employment (20-year time series)
      • industry sector employment
      • top employing occupations by industry.

       

      Industry data - February 2025.xlsx

      industry_data_-_february_2025.xlsx118382

      Download