Retail Trade

Overview

EMPLOYED

1,339,500

PART-TIME SHARE

51%

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 13,600 (or 1%) 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, Retail Trade Employment
    1144400
    1155800
    1161300
    1163100
    1163000
    1163800
    1167000
    1173200
    1181500
    1191900
    1204200
    1215000
    1220200
    1220600
    1217400
    1212300
    1205400
    1196500
    1187900
    1183400
    1181800
    1184000
    1189600
    1196400
    1200400
    1200900
    1199300
    1197100
    1195700
    1196500
    1200000
    1206000
    1212000
    1218100
    1223000
    1228400
    1230600
    1230700
    1230300
    1231400
    1233300
    1239000
    1247700
    1254400
    1253500
    1247200
    1240700
    1238900
    1241100
    1249100
    1259100
    1268700
    1272000
    1270600
    1268400
    1267600
    1264900
    1260100
    1253300
    1247700
    1243500
    1247300
    1255900
    1262700
    1265800
    1267700
    1275300
    1286200
    1300400
    1315500
    1326800
    1331500
    1330800
    1329300
    1326900
    1325900
    1326000
    1330600
    1335800
    1339500

    Sectors

    Supermarket and Grocery Stores is the largest sector in the Retail Trade industry, employing 320,100 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
    Supermarket and Grocery Stores 320100
    Pharmaceutical and Other Store-Based Retailing 239900
    Clothing, Footwear and Personal Accessory Retailing 162200
    Specialised Food Retailing 102000
    Hardware, Building and Garden Supplies Retailing 92100
    Department Stores 82000
    Motor Vehicle Retailing 62000
    Electrical and Electronic Goods Retailing 55200
    Furniture, Floor Coverings, Houseware and Textile Goods Retailing 54700
    Recreational Goods Retailing 46500
    Fuel Retailing 38200
    Motor Vehicle Parts and Tyre Retailing 30300
    Non-Store Retailing 28100
    Retail Commission-Based Buying and/or Selling 900

    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 - February 2025.xlsx

      industry_data_-_february_2025.xlsx118382

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