Our Economic Contribution

Mining is an important contributor to a strong NSW economy.

Our industry supports around 40,000 jobs in Sydney and in mining regions across the state.

With long-term projects and global demand for our commodities remaining strong, mining will continue to help build and support economies and communities across regional NSW.

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$23.6billion

Yearly injection into the NSW economy

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31,586

Full-time jobs supported by our members

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$5.8billion

Paid in taxes, including royalties

Mining produces the state’s most valuable export commodities – coal, gold and copper.

Mining companies operating in NSW pay billions of dollars in mining royalties to the NSW Government that contribute to the funding of essential infrastructure and services, like roads, hospitals, schools and police.

It takes a lot of different people in a lot of different jobs to keep our mines working. While around 40,000 people are directly employed in mining in NSW, thousands more work in mining-related jobs, including in the more than 7,000 businesses big and small in NSW that are part of the mining supply chain. These businesses support our mining operations by providing a range of goods and services needed to keep our mines operating. This helps to keep local economies growing and local communities flourishing.

Export revenue

Coal is NSW’s largest export earner in value terms, worth around $55 billion in 2022-23.

Coal export volumes from NSW to the rest of the world have doubled since 2001, from 75 million tonnes to over 164 million tonnes in 2018¹. This is an increase of over 118 percent, reflecting the continued strong demand for our high-quality NSW coal from our trading partners in Asia.

¹Coal Services Pty Ltd

Our annual Jobs and Expenditure Survey

Each year the NSW Minerals Council engages an independent economist to survey mining companies operating in NSW to quantify their economic contribution to NSW through jobs, taxes and money spent with local companies supplying our mines and operations.

The survey was first conducted for the 2011-12 financial year and has since been completed annually. The results have demonstrated the strong and stable economic contribution that mining generates for NSW each year.

Jobs in mining

Australian Bureau of Statistics data over the last decade shows around 40,000 people work in the NSW mining industry in any given year.

And thousands more people are employed in the 7,000 local businesses that supply our mines in NSW.