Taylor Swift, P!nk and Australian Grand Prix drive national economic growth in last quarter

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has revealed that key sport and entertainment events boosted national economic activity in the March quarter, after the latest gross domestic product data was released on Wednesday.

While the economy grew by just 0.1% between January and March - the weakest quarterly growth on an annual basis since December 2020 - that figure hides moments of economic activity generated by international entertainers and sportspeople.

The Australian Grand Prix - held in Melbourne in March for the first time since 2019, P!nk’s multi venue tour and Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour, were singled out by the ABS.

Australians bought more than 600,000 tickets for the local leg of Taylor Swift’s Eras tour, which came to Melbourne and Sydney in February. P!nk, whose Summer Carnivals concerts toured seven cities across Australia in February and March, selling almost a million tickets was also part of the effect.

ABS March quarter report stated that over that time, arts and recreation services rose 2.7%, “driven by record attendances at large music and sporting events across major cities.

Accommodation and food services were down 1.5%, a figure that “experienced a boost from several large-scale sporting and music events being held during the quarter”.

Advising that the events added to household spending over the period, ABS Head of National Accounts, Katherine Keenan stated “spending on (Taylor Swift, P!nk and the Melbourne Grand Prix) contributed to the overall rise in household spending, benefiting the accommodation, catering, and arts and recreation industries in Victoria and New South Wales.”

Swift’s impact on retail alone saw the sector turnover rise 0.3% in February 2024 – a figure that would have been lower had The Eras tour not come to Australia, said Ben Dorber, ABS Head of Retail Statistics.

In March, Dorber advised “seven sold-out Taylor Swift concerts in Sydney and Melbourne boosted retail spending this month, with over 600,000 Swifties flocking to these events. This led to increased spending on clothing, merchandise, accessories and dining out.

“Looking past the temporary and one-off impact of the Taylor Swift concerts, underlying growth in retail turnover was up only 0.1% in trend terms.”

Image: Taylor Swift. Credit: Shutterstock.