Retail Trade

Overview

EMPLOYED

1,346,300

PART-TIME SHARE

50%

WORKFORCE SHARE

9.2%

FEMALE SHARE

55%

MEDIAN WEEKLY EARNINGS

$1,334

MEDIAN AGE

33

About this data

Retail Trade is the second largest employing industry. Around 9.2% of workers have their main job in this industry.

Retail Trade businesses are mainly involved in the purchase and onselling of goods to the general public. They usually trade from shop fronts that attract high numbers of walk-in customers, however the industry includes an increasing number of businesses involved in online retailing.

Median earnings are $1,334 per week, lower than all industries median earnings of $1,700.

Details

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    Employment

    Employment in the Retail Trade industry grew over the 20 years to August 2025.
    The number of workers grew by 15,500 (or 1.2%) over the last year.

    Source: ABS, Labour Force Survey, Detailed, August 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, Retail Trade Employment
    1161300
    1163200
    1163000
    1163800
    1166900
    1173200
    1181500
    1191800
    1204100
    1214900
    1220100
    1220500
    1217400
    1212200
    1205300
    1196400
    1187800
    1183300
    1181700
    1183900
    1189500
    1196400
    1200300
    1200800
    1199200
    1197000
    1195700
    1196400
    1199900
    1205900
    1211900
    1218000
    1223000
    1228400
    1230700
    1231000
    1230800
    1232000
    1234000
    1239700
    1248500
    1255200
    1254300
    1247900
    1241500
    1239700
    1241800
    1249800
    1259800
    1269400
    1272800
    1271300
    1269100
    1268300
    1265700
    1260900
    1254100
    1248500
    1244400
    1248200
    1256800
    1263600
    1266600
    1268600
    1276200
    1287300
    1301600
    1316800
    1328100
    1332800
    1332200
    1330700
    1328200
    1326900
    1326700
    1330800
    1335500
    1338600
    1342000
    1346300

    Sectors

    Supermarket and Grocery Stores is the largest sector in the Retail Trade industry, employing 325,900 workers.

    Source: ABS, Labour Force Survey, Detailed, August 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
    Supermarket and Grocery Stores 325900
    Pharmaceutical and Other Store-Based Retailing 224100
    Clothing, Footwear and Personal Accessory Retailing 157500
    Specialised Food Retailing 100600
    Hardware, Building and Garden Supplies Retailing 92200
    Department Stores 84000
    Motor Vehicle Retailing 68800
    Electrical and Electronic Goods Retailing 57400
    Furniture, Floor Coverings, Houseware and Textile Goods Retailing 57000
    Recreational Goods Retailing 44600
    Fuel Retailing 39100
    Motor Vehicle Parts and Tyre Retailing 29100
    Non-Store Retailing 26200
    Retail Commission-Based Buying and/or Selling 1400

    Occupations

    Sales Assistants (General) is the largest employing occupation in the Retail Trade 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
    6211Sales Assistants (General)
    1421Retail Managers
    6311Checkout Operators and Office Cashiers
    8912Shelf Fillers
    7411Storepersons
    6214Pharmacy Sales Assistants
    5911Purchasing and Supply Logistics Clerks
    6215Retail Supervisors
    2515Pharmacists
    6213Motor Vehicle and Vehicle Parts Salespersons
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      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 - August 2025.xlsx

      industry_data_-_august_2025.xlsx105972

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