Putting a plan in place for Sydney’s future economy could unlock 1 million new jobs by 2050, tripling the number of Sydneysiders working in key knowledge sector industries.

Transforming Sydney’s Economy, a new report from urban policy think tank Committee for Sydney and Macquarie University, identifies five key sectors where Sydney could excel globally, creating jobs, diversifying the economy and attracting talent and investment:

• Financial services and fintech
• Bio-medical technologies and life sciences
• Digital technologies
• Advanced manufacturing
• Net zero and clean energy technology

Jeremy Gill, report author and Head of Policy at the Committee for Sydney: “If we get this right, these industries could contribute 1 million new jobs in Sydney by 2050.”

“We have the assets, we have the knowledge and capability, we have the capital and the diversity. We have world-leading R&D in photovoltaics research and manufacturing, which is key to decarbonise economies. We have globally recognised research in quantum computing, and established clusters of biomedical and life sciences. We are an innovation city.

“What we’re lacking is a long-term plan that identifies our strengths, builds the infrastructure and enabling regulation to support them, and attracts talent and investment to our city.

“Cities and countries around the world are chasing key industries, and putting funding, infrastructure investment and other support on the table – the risk is, if we don’t do the same, Sydney is going to be left behind.”

Prof. Eric Knight, report strategic advisor and Deputy Vice Chancellor (People and Operations) of Macquarie University: “If you think about Sydney’s economy through to 2050, it will be much more data enriched and intensive, with even basic processes in medicine and chemistry evolving with new developments in imaging and data analytics. That has significant implications, for example, on the number of data centres we need and the kind of infrastructure to support it.”

“It’s likely to be a more geopolitically unstable period, and a dependency on limited industries wil leave us exposed to all kinds of boycotts and sanctions. We’re realising the wars of the future will increasingly be fought not just with weapons, but with tariffs and trade sanctions. 

“So building a resilient economy, a diversified and more complex economy in which our governments are strategic partners is going to help us ward off some of the threats that may come to us in a more volatile future.

“We’re making a case for long term thinking for Sydney’s future economy.”

Read the Transforming Sydney’s Economy report:

• Sydney is the largest economic engine in the country, accounting for 21% of national economic activity 
• Sydney is a top 20 global financial services hub, it’s home to 11 top 200 public universities with two in the global top 20
• Sydney’s economy is more diversified than NSW or Australia, giving it an edge in a rapidly changing global economy
• Australia ranks 93rd in the world for economic complexity and has been declining since 1995
• 70% of NSW’s exports are goods and over half of these (52%) are coal, of which 36% goes to Japan – an economic risk as trade partners decarbonize
• 18% of Australia’s manufacturing jobs are in Sydney
• A conservative shift in the share of jobs across priority sectors from 21% of Sydney’s jobs (current share) to just 31% will see them account for an additional 500,000 of the future jobs projected by 2050, increasing the share of high value activities and making Sydney more globally competitive and economically complex.