WA boasts COVID response makes economy one of the "strongest in the nation and the world"

Western Australia’s COVID-19 response has driven the State’s strong economic performance according to Premier Mark McGowan who this afternoon claimed it was “one of the strongest in the nation and the world”.

According to the State’s latest budget, WA domestic economic growth was the strongest of all Australian states for a second year running at 4.3 per cent in 2020-21.

Further, Gross State Product (GSP) is estimated to have grown by 3.25 per cent in the period, and is expected to accelerate to 3.5 per cent in 2021-22, driven largely by strong activity in housing construction.

Western Australia's exports grew to a record $223 billion in 2020-21, accounting for well over half of national exports.

Despite the global economic shock brought on by COVID-19, employment figures in WA are at the highest level on record, with 27,300 more people employed than prior to the pandemic.

The unemployment rate has fallen to 4.6 per cent - it is the lowest level in almost eight years - and is expected to average just 4.5 per cent from 2022-23.

"Our policy to crush and kill the virus means Western Australians are living in one of the freest and most open societies in the world,” WA Premier Mark McGowan said.

"There are more Western Australians employed now than ever before, with 107,000 jobs created since my Government came to office.

"Our booming economy and enviable freedoms have also driven up the number of people moving to Western Australia, with the first growth in interstate migration since 2013.”

Updated at 4.53pm AEST on 9 September 2021.

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