Ballarat's economy rises by $1 billion in 2022-23

According to numbers from the City of Ballarat, the gross regional product was $8.3 billion in 2022-23, an almost $1 billion rise.

A billion dollar increase is a pretty impressive number, but what does it mean for the City of Ballarat?

The council's corporate services director John Hausler said GRP was about economic growth.

"A GRP is the amount of output produced by businesses in the economy," he said.

The GRP data, used by the council in their annual report, is sourced from Remplan.

Remplan reported a GRP of $7.3 billion for Ballarat in 2020, $7.6b in 2021 and then $8.3b in 2022.

"We're producing more amazing outputs for the economy and for the country," Mr Hausler said.

Mr Hausler said this was "phenomenal" for the city.

"It's driven by the industries we have providing jobs, people that are providing outputs, products for the economy," he said.

"It's in line with the growth we're experiencing - City of Ballarat is experiencing phenomenal population growth and business growth."

The manufacturing industry is responsible for most of the output, 22.2 per cent, as well as construction, 15.9 per cent.

Ballarat is anticipated to grow from its current population of 117,000 to more than 146,000 by 2036.

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Already in 12 months, from 2021 to 2022, the Ballarat business community has increased by 500 new enterprises, along with 10,000 new jobs, from 48,443 to 57,254 jobs.

In gross comparison, City of Greater Bendigo's GRP in 2022 was $8.9 billion, up from $8.1b in 2021.

City of Greater Geelong, while having a bigger GRP of $18 billion, saw a similar increase as Ballarat of just under a billion in 12 months, an increase of $1.6 billion, which shows the growth of Ballarat is punching above its weight.

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