Top 10 growth industries for 11/12 revealed

As industry gets set to embark on a new financial year, business information research firm IBISWorld has released its annual list nominating the top 10 industries set to soar in 2011-12 and the top 5 worst-performing.

Forecast to grow by 18.3% in the coming year to reach $41.2bn in 2011-12, the oil and gas production industry was highlighted as this year’s top industry performer.

IBISWorld general manager (Australia), Robert Bryant said that despite the fact that Australia’s oil production is falling, gas output has continued to grow strongly.

“Significant industry growth is expected off the back of higher gas output – through the discovery of new fields and expanded production at existing fields – and higher prices, which will stimulate revenue,” he said.

The Mining sector continued to perform well, placing number four on the list. IBISWorld forecasted the combined effects of surging demand and rising commodity prices to increase revenue by 12.9% to reach $207.7bn.

“With close to 70% of the commodities mined exported to foreign markets, the growth of Australia’s mining sector is closely linked to international demand,” Bryant said, adding that the mining sector is undoubtedly Australia’s most important exporter.

Online shopping was ranked at number nine, driven mostly by the increasing number of brick-and-mortar shops launching online stores.

“While the past year has seen a number of Australian retailers launch online platforms, such as Big W and David Jones, many of our leading players are yet to enter the arena. IBISWorld predicts that over the coming months the number of names online with an online presence will rapidly expand as retailers seek to compete through offering greater flexibility to customers, as well as expanding product lines,” Bryant said, flagging new technology – particularly the smart phone boom – helping to boost the demand for online shopping.

“In 2010, 25 million purchases were made online using mobile devices, and this is expected to increase by more than 50% in 2011-12.”

On the other side, gaming and vending machines manufacturing was named the worst performing industry for the coming year, with a forecasted revenue fall of 12.6%. The strong Australian dollar and government restrictions surrounding gaming machines were identified as the main reasons for the downturn.

See the full lists below:

IBISWorld's Top 10 growth industries 2011-12
Industry	Growth 2011-12	Revenue 2011-12 ($bn)
Oil & gas production	18.3%	41.2
Sugar manufacturing	16.3%	2.7
Organic farming	13.0%	0.5
Mining	12.9%	207.7
Automotive fuel retailing	10.9%	37.0
Multi-unit apartment & townhouse construction	10.6%	11.0
Financial asset investors	9.8%	17.0
Renewable energy	9.7%	1.4
Online shopping	9.0%	5.5
Domestic airlines	9.0%	13.4

IBISWorld's Top 5 worst-performing industries 2011-12
Industry	Growth 2011-12	Revenue 2011-12 ($bn)
Gaming & vending machines manufacturing	-12.6%	0.4
Wired telecommunications carriers	-7.6%	10.2
Institutional building construction	-7.3%	10.2
Image processing & printing services	-4.9%	0.5
Book & telephone directory publishing	-2.4%	4.2