A new report has shown just how much Australia’s tech sector is continuously expanding, with a whopping 20,000 new app developers entering the market between March 2017 and January 2019. – Business Insider reports.
This signifies a 20.35% growth in that timeframe, with app developer numbers expanding from 117,000 to 136,000.
“Australian apps have become an export of the digital economy, utilised by millions of users around the world,” report authors Dr Michael Mandel and Elliot Long explained, naming the expansion of app development business an important revenue-generating opportunity.
The Australian App Economy 2019 update revealed that New South Wales has dominated the sector, boasting 68,000 developers, while Victoria followed with 38,000 developers.
Queensland boasts 15,000 app developer roles this year, West Australia came next in line with 3,000 positions, the ACT followed with 6,000, South Australia with 3,000 and Tasmania with 1,000.
Co-founder of OzRunways, Rowan Wilson, told Business Insider Australia that the tech sector has seen an increase in professionality.
“It’s really hard to bust into the app store, it needs to be really polished and professional and stand out with quality and professionalism, maybe that’s driving growth,” he said. “The transition has gone from more hobbyist to quite professional.”
According to the Australian App Economy report, the number of developers divided by the total number of jobs is at 1.1%, which stands at the same rate as the United States. New South Wales leads the nation with an app intensity rate of 1.7%.
According to Robert Wood, professor and director of the Futures Academy at University of Technology Sydney (UTS), favourable business conditions and successful cooperation of education institutions and businesses had aided the tech sector’s expansion in New South Wales.
“There’s a lot of investment that’s going on in creating opportunities to explore and engage in startups,” he said.
Additionally, he accredited the professional workforce for having attracted talent to Sydney, saying: “It’s got a much higher turnover of professions, people coming and going.”
Wood went on to note how limitations on work rights for international students had led to many starting their own app development companies.
“Immigrants who don’t have the same level of access to the economy go out and start businesses. All of those people that I’ve spoken to are foreign students who’ve graduated in software engineering who can’t get jobs in Australia because Australian firms can’t hire them.”
The report also revealed that computer and information services exports from Australia increased by 30% in 2018.