Economist

Overview of this occupation

Economists perform economic research and analysis, develop and apply theories about production and distribution of goods and services and people's spending and financial behaviour, and provide advice to governments and organisations on economic policy issues. Statisticians are excluded from this unit group.

What they do:

Analyse data to identify trends or relationships among variables
Apply mathematical principles or statistical approaches to solve problems in scientific or applied fields
Forecast economic, political, social or financial trends
Instruct tertiary students in social sciences or humanities disciplines
Maintain professional or technical knowledge, skills, or certifications
Manage operations, research or logistics projects
Manage organisational, operational, or project budgets
Plan and manage, and analyse costs and benefits of, proposed designs or projects
Prepare research, analytical, scientific or technical reports or presentations
Record research data
Research social issues
Write assessment or evaluation reports

What technology tools they use:

Business intelligence and decision support software
Financial analysis software
Financial and commodities services software
Flow chart and diagram software
Statistical and data analysis software

Source: Australian Skills Classification, job and Skills Australia, Commonwealth of Australia. Used under Creative Commons BY 4.0 licence and Jobs and Skills Australia, ABS Census 2016, Customised Report.

Quick facts

4762

All employees nationwide¹

The number of people employed in an occupations as their main job across all Australian states.

14.60^%

Projected growth²

The projected increase in employment in Australia from May 2023 to May 2028.

30.20^%

Working in NSW³

The distribution of people employed in an occupation in NSW.

$1815

Median weekly earnings before tax⁴

Earnings are before tax and include amounts salary sacrificed.

Median age of all workers⁵

This shows the median age of all workers in this occupation.

20^%

Part-time workers⁶

Those who usually work less than 35 hours per week.

See footnotes for source details and additional information.

Skills and knowledge

What are they good at?

This table lists skills and knowledge categories according to how relevant they are for this occupation.

High expertise	Intermediate
Digital Engagement Initiative And Innovation Planning And Organising	Learning Numeracy Oral Communication Problem Solving Reading Teamwork Writing

High expertise

Digital Engagement
Initiative And Innovation
Planning And Organising

Intermediate

Learning
Numeracy
Oral Communication
Problem Solving
Reading
Teamwork
Writing

Source: Australian Skills Classification, Jobs and Skills Australia, Commonwealth of Australia. Used under Creative Commons BY 4.0 licence.

Education and qualifications

Economist – Skill level 1

Occupation at Skill Level 1 have a level of skill commensurate with a bachelor's degree of higher qualification .

At least five years of relevant experience may substitute for the formal qualification

Show all skill levels

Skill level 1	Occupation at Skill Level 1 have a level of skill commensurate with a bachelor's degree of higher qualification . At least five years of relevant experience may substitute for the formal qualification
Skill level 2	Occupations at Skill Level 2 have a level of skill commensurate with one of the following: AQF Associate degree, Advanced Diploma or Diploma At least three years of relevant experience many substitute for the formal qualifications listed above.
Skill level 3	Occupations at Skill Level 3 have a level of skill commensurate with one of the following: AQF Certificate IV or AQF Certificate III including at least two years of onthejob training At least three years of relevant experience many substitute for the formal qualifications listed above.
Skill level 4	Occupations at Skill Level 4 have a level of skill commensurate with one of the following: AQF Certificate II or III At least one year of relevant experience many substitute for the formal qualifications listed above.
Skill level 5	Occupations at Skill Level 5 have a level of skill commensurate with one of the following: AQF Certificate I or compulsory secondary education For some occupations, a short period of on-the-job training may be required in addition to or instead of the formal qualification.

Skill level 1

Occupation at Skill Level 1 have a level of skill commensurate with a bachelor's degree of higher qualification .

At least five years of relevant experience may substitute for the formal qualification

Skill level 2

Occupations at Skill Level 2 have a level of skill commensurate with one of the following:

AQF Associate degree, Advanced Diploma or Diploma

At least three years of relevant experience many substitute for the formal qualifications listed above.

Skill level 3

Occupations at Skill Level 3 have a level of skill commensurate with one of the following:

AQF Certificate IV or
AQF Certificate III including at least two years of onthejob training

At least three years of relevant experience many substitute for the formal qualifications listed above.

Skill level 4

Occupations at Skill Level 4 have a level of skill commensurate with one of the following:

AQF Certificate II or III

At least one year of relevant experience many substitute for the formal qualifications listed above.

Skill level 5

Occupations at Skill Level 5 have a level of skill commensurate with one of the following:

AQF Certificate I or compulsory secondary education

For some occupations, a short period of on-the-job training may be required in addition to or instead of the formal qualification.

Source: Conceptual basis of ANZSCO, ABS Survey, Release Nov 2021.

Qualifications in this workforce

This table shows the distribution of employment by highest qualification completed (in any field of study).⁷

2.70^%

Year 12 and below

0.50^%

Certificate III or IV

0.70^%

Diploma or Advanced Diploma

43.10^%

Bachelor`s degree

52.70^%

Post-graduate

Source: ABS, 2021 Census of Population and Housing based on place of usual residence.

Use this as a guide for understanding what qualifications are the most common in this field.

Next steps

Show disclaimer and footnotes

Disclaimer

This website contains information supplied by third parties and links to other websites. All information on this website and links to other websites are provided as a general reference source only, with no guarantee of completeness, accuracy, timeliness, fitness for purpose or of the results obtained from using this information. The information on this website and the links to other websites do not constitute or imply any endorsement or approval by the State of New South Wales of the information or the material at those websites, or any associated organisation, product or service. The information on this website and the links to other websites are provided on the understanding that the State of New South Wales is not providing professional advice on a particular matter. Please see https://www.nsw.gov.au/disclaimer for more information.

Footnotes

1. All employees nationwide:

This is the number of people employed in this occupation as their main job across all Australian states.

Source: ABS, Labour Force Survey, Detailed, November 2023, Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) Trend Data.

2. Projected growth:

Employment projections are important to understand how the current expected economic and labour market outlook is impacting Australia’s future workforce needs.

Jobs and Skills Australia has worked with Victoria University to produce employment projections for 2028 and 2033, using their Victoria University Employment Forecasting Model (VUEF). On this page Careers NSW have used the 2028 projections at 4-digit ANSCO level to understand the shorter-term trend for an occupation.

Key Points

Employment projections are important to understand how the current expected economic and labour market outlook is impacting Australia’s future workforce needs. Jobs and Skills Australia has worked with Victoria University to produce employment projections to 2033. Victoria University’s Employment Forecasting Model (VUEF) is underpinned by a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model.

The projections have been calibrated to the macroeconomic and labour market outlook provided by the Australian Treasury. The projections are presented over a 5-year period to highlight the shorter-term trends and over a 10-year horizon to show the impact of longer-term or structural trends.

Caveats

These projections are based off a starting point of employment estimated at May 2023 using the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Detailed Labour Force Survey and trended by Jobs and Skills Australia, which may not align with estimates of employment from other data sources.

Like any forecasts, these projections are based on assumptions and are subject to an inherent degree of uncertainty. They are useful to demonstrate how current trends could be expected to play out rather than as precise predictions of the future. Caution should be exercised when using these projections.

Source: Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA), Employment Projections, May 2023.

3. Working in NSW:

This is the distribution of people employed in an occupation in NSW. Data for occupations with less than 50 people employed has been suppressed to protect confidentiality and prevent identification of individuals.

Source: ABS, Labour Force Survey, Detailed, November 2023, Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) Trend Data.

4. Median weekly earnings before tax

Median weekly total cash earnings for full-time non-managerial employees paid at the adult rate. Earnings are before tax and include amounts salary sacrificed.

The "full-time non-managerial employees paid at the adult rate" population has been used because it excludes people paid unusually high or low amounts (for example managers, part-time employees and youths). This allows for more accurate comparison between occupations. These figures are a guide only and should not be used to determine a wage rate as they do not take into account years of experience or other factors that may influence a person’s wage.

Median weekly earnings figures are not produced for the following occupations:

ANZSCO 6–digit occupations
Senior Non-Commissioned Defence Force Officers (1392) and Defence Force Members - Other Ranks (4411), and
ANZSCO 4–digit occupations where there is a high relative standard error.

Source: ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2021, customised report.

5. Median age of all workers

This shows the median age of all workers in this occupation.

Source: ABS, Labour Force Survey, 2022, four-quarter average data, customised report.

6. Part-time workers

This is the proportion of people employed in an occupation who work part-time (those who usually work less than 35 hours per week).

Data for occupations with less than 50 people employed have been suppressed to protect confidentiality and prevent identification of individuals.

Source: ABS, Labour Force Survey, 2022, 4-quarter average data, customised report.

7. Qualifications in this workforce

This is the distribution of employment by highest qualification completed (in any field of study).

Data for occupations with less than 50 people employed has been suppressed to protect confidentiality and prevent identification of individuals.

The sum of educational attainment percentages may not equal 100% as "Not stated", "Not applicable", "Inadequately described" and "No educational attainment" responses have been excluded.

Source: ABS, 2021 Census of Population and Housing based on place of usual residence.

Economist

Overview of this occupation

What they do:

What technology tools they use:

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Quick facts

Economist

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Skills and knowledge

What are they good at?

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Education and qualifications

Economist – Skill level 1

Qualifications in this workforce

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Next steps

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