Accommodation and Food Services

Overview

EMPLOYED

958,200

PART-TIME SHARE

61%

WORKFORCE SHARE

6.5%

FEMALE SHARE

52%

MEDIAN WEEKLY EARNINGS

$1,300

MEDIAN AGE

25

About this data

Accommodation and Food Services is a large employing industry. Around 6.5% of workers have their main job in this industry.

This industry includes:

  • short-term accommodation providers
  • cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services
  • pubs, taverns, bars and clubs
  • clubs providing hospitality services to members.

Median earnings are $1,300 per week, lower than all industries median earnings of $1,700.

Details

On this page

    Employment

    Employment in the Accommodation and Food Services industry grew over the 20 years to February 2025.
    The number of workers grew by 20,200 (or 2.2%) over the last year.

    Source: ABS, Labour Force Survey, Detailed, May 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, Accommodation and Food Services Employment
    679600
    677700
    673300
    668900
    669000
    673800
    680800
    688600
    694800
    698900
    700700
    703000
    706500
    710200
    713700
    718300
    724900
    731900
    736800
    740500
    745300
    750700
    757600
    763300
    765600
    764600
    762100
    761300
    765400
    771600
    777500
    781700
    783600
    783100
    783100
    786400
    792800
    802100
    811700
    819200
    823800
    826700
    830600
    835700
    842100
    848000
    853300
    859100
    865900
    871000
    873500
    875400
    878900
    882300
    887000
    893100
    900400
    906700
    911400
    914200
    912100
    917200
    924500
    930200
    931400
    929300
    925200
    923400
    927900
    938000
    948200
    954400
    956700
    958200

    Sectors

    Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services is the largest sector in the Accommodation and Food Services industry, employing 698,700 workers.

    Source: ABS, Labour Force Survey, Detailed, May 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
    Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 698700
    Pubs, Taverns and Bars 104200
    Accommodation 103900
    Clubs (Hospitality) 46300

    Occupations

    Waiters is the largest employing occupation in the Accommodation and Food Services 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
    4315Waiters
    3513Chefs
    4311Bar Attendants and Baristas
    8513Kitchenhands
    6211Sales Assistants (General)
    1411Cafe and Restaurant Managers
    8511Fast Food Cooks
    1421Retail Managers
    4312Cafe Workers
    3514Cooks
    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 - May 2025.xlsx

      industry_data_-_may_2025.xlsx118390

      Download