Size & Scope of the Australian Thoroughbred Racing Industry

The Australian Racing Board has released a comprehensive report into the extent of the racing industry in Australia.

Some of the major findings of this report are:

• allowing for the successive rounds of spending in the economy which follow from expenditure by the racing industry, direct plus indirect income and employment due to the racing industry in Australia totals some $ 7.7 billion and 240,000 Australians (or 77,000 full time equivalents) respectively.
  
• Breeding and racing are amongst the most labour intensive of all Australian industries and provide jobs in a diverse range of callings. Much of this employment consists of jobs in regional areas where genuine local employment opportunities are scarce.
  
• Measured by attendances, racing is Australia's second most popular sport. 1.7m people attend a race meeting at least once a year. This is second only in popularity to Australian Rules football. For most rural communities their Cup race day and the agricultural show are the two social highlights of the year - and for those not large enough to have an agricultural show the annual race day is their major opportunity to socialise as a community.
  
• Australian racing spans both the calendar and the continent. A total of 22,000 races are held each year, staged in Australia and equating to an average of 60 races per day.
  
• Australian Racing is a significant contributor to both the economy and way of life in regional Australia. Almost half ($3.8 billion) of the gross economic impact from the thoroughbred racing industry is generated in non-metropolitan regions.
  
• Per capita Australia is the world's leading country in ownership of thoroughbred racehorses. Australia also has more race clubs and racecourses than any other country in the world. Moreover Australia's 454 race clubs have over 150,000 members.

Click here to download the full size and scope study. (PDF requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)