OUTLOOK - Grow Wellington

16Three large industries among the top ten are communicationservices, government administration, and business services.Government administration managed 5.7% growth over the year,with $136 million more in GDP than in 2006. Communicationservices enjoyed double-digit growth of 13.3%, generating$2.1 billion in 2007. The business services industry producedan additional $115 million in GDP in 2007.Sport and recreation leads GDP growth in the region,up 15.6% in one year.Motion picture, radio and television services continueto do well, with its GDP contribution up 10.1%.The top ten industries together added $5.8 billionto regional GDP in Wellington.Table 4.6 presents the ten fastest-growing industries interms of GDP within the Wellington region from 1997 to 2007.Over the last ten years, communication services managedannual growth of 9.5%, representing a total increase inGDP of $1.2 billion. The GDP generated by this industrymore than doubled within ten years.Other sizable increases occurred in the social services sectorincluding defence (5.4% per annum) and health services(5.1% per annum).4.3 Business UnitsTable 4.7 presents the ten industries that accounted for themost business units within the Wellington region in 2007.Not surprisingly, business services, the largest employer,had the largest number of business units in 2007, making upalmost one fifth of the total number of businesses in Wellington.The top five industries accounted for 53% of the totalnumber of businesses in Wellington, whereas the topten made up almost 70%.Table 4.8 presents the ten fastest-growing industries interms of business units within the Wellington region in 2007.Most new business units were added in finance (143 units),general construction (121), property services (485) andbusiness services (447). Other sizable growth occurredin sport and recreation (up 5.0%), services to agriculture,hunting and trapping (up 7.3%), and petroleum, coal,chemical and associate product manufacturing (up 6.7%).The top ten fastest-growth industries in terms of businessunits account for 49% of all Wellington region businesses.Table 4.9 presents the ten fastest-growing industries in termsof business units within the Wellington region from 1997 to 2007.The motion picture, radio and television services industryadded more than 500 new businesses over the last ten years,an average of 11.8% growth per annum. This is in linewith the employment and GDP growth over the same periodas discussed in the previous sections.Many business services sector industries are amongthe top ten fastest-growing industries. Finance enjoyed7.0% per annum growth, followed by property services(6.0% per annum), business services (4.6% per annum),and services to finance and insurance (4.1% per annum).Together, the top ten fastest-growing industries in termsof business units added 10,700 units to the regionaleconomy over the ten years.Table 4.6 Industries with fastest GDP growth, 1997 to 2007 (10 years)Rank byGDP growthGDP (2007$m)Industry 1997 2007 % growth1 Communication Services 831 2,052 9.5%2 Sport and Recreation 106 208 7.0%3 Defence 111 187 5.4%4 Health Services 551 908 5.1%5 Government Administration 1,561 2,543 5.0%6 Construction Trade Services 320 478 4.1%7 General Construction 251 369 3.9%8 Other Services 138 202 3.9%9 Personal and Household Good Retailing 341 487 3.6%10 Food Retailing 261 372 3.6%Source: BERL Regional Database, Statistics NZ