Retail Trade

Overview

EMPLOYED

1,341,500

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 February 2025.
    The number of workers grew by 15,700 (or 1.2%) 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, Retail Trade Employment
    1155700
    1161300
    1163100
    1163000
    1163700
    1166900
    1173200
    1181500
    1191800
    1204200
    1215000
    1220100
    1220600
    1217400
    1212200
    1205300
    1196400
    1187900
    1183400
    1181700
    1183900
    1189500
    1196400
    1200400
    1200900
    1199200
    1197100
    1195700
    1196400
    1199900
    1205900
    1211900
    1218100
    1223000
    1228400
    1230600
    1230800
    1230500
    1231600
    1233600
    1239300
    1248000
    1254700
    1253800
    1247500
    1241000
    1239200
    1241400
    1249300
    1259300
    1268900
    1272400
    1270900
    1268600
    1267900
    1265200
    1260400
    1253600
    1248000
    1243900
    1247600
    1256300
    1263100
    1266100
    1268100
    1275700
    1286800
    1301100
    1316300
    1327600
    1332300
    1331600
    1330100
    1327500
    1326200
    1325800
    1329800
    1334400
    1337700
    1341500

    Sectors

    Supermarket and Grocery Stores is the largest sector in the Retail Trade industry, employing 317,300 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
    Supermarket and Grocery Stores 317300
    Pharmaceutical and Other Store-Based Retailing 230500
    Clothing, Footwear and Personal Accessory Retailing 158400
    Specialised Food Retailing 100400
    Hardware, Building and Garden Supplies Retailing 93300
    Department Stores 86700
    Motor Vehicle Retailing 66400
    Electrical and Electronic Goods Retailing 59400
    Furniture, Floor Coverings, Houseware and Textile Goods Retailing 56800
    Recreational Goods Retailing 48000
    Fuel Retailing 38700
    Motor Vehicle Parts and Tyre Retailing 29500
    Non-Store Retailing 27200
    Retail Commission-Based Buying and/or Selling 1000

    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 - May 2025.xlsx

      industry_data_-_may_2025.xlsx118390

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