Queensland’s racing industry contributed a record $2.4 billion towards the state’s economy in 2022-23, including $81 million in the Logan-Beaudesert region.
Racing Queensland has released its latest independent economic data delivered by IER – a specialist in the tourism, events and entertainment industries – which demonstrates an increase of close to $200 million (9%) in 2022-23 over the previous financial year.
Almost 250 extra full-time jobs were generated in racing in 2022-23, with the industry now responsible for 15,839 full-time equivalent jobs across Queensland – an increase of 66% since 2015.
Participant numbers remained steady with almost 50,000 people involved in the Queensland racing industry.
While the latest figures show the overall economic contribution of Queensland racing under Labor has doubled, from $1.2 billion in 2015-16 to $2.4 billion in 2022-23, it also shows that remarkable growth continues to be shared across all three codes of racing:
- Thoroughbreds – rose from $959 million to $1.8 billion (+90% since 2015-16)
- Greyhounds – rose from $113 million to $344 million (+204% since 2015-16)
- Harness – rose from $142 million to $232 million (+64% since 2015-16)
As published in its FY23 Annual Report, Racing Queensland increased its payments to participants last financial year to a record-high $370.4 million (+113% since 2015-16), with prize money reaching $243.7 million (+83% since 2015-16).
