Aussie app industry booming, outpacing US, UK

Since 2008, the growth of Australia's app economy has been on a steady rise, with the percentage of growth leaving the US and the UK behind, suggesting that Australia may have a strong future in the digital sector.

According to a report compiled by Dr Michael Mandel of the Progressive Policy Institute, Australia experienced a growth of 38.5 percent in the field of computer Systems Design, which includes mobile software, from May 2008 to May 2014 -- compared to a growth of 22.2 percent for the US and just 10.1 percent for the UK. This has even outstripped the employment gain of the rest of the Australian economy, which was just 8 per cent.

This is bolstered by the growing uptake of mobile technology in Australia: recent reports from the ACMA showed that, between June 2012 and June 2013, internet use via mobile phone rose 33 percent in Australia, and the number of Australians with a smartphone rose by 29 percent between May 2012 and May 2013.

As of June 2014, there were around 139,600 app economy jobs in Australia, making up 9.4 percent of all Australian tech industry jobs. The bulk of these jobs -- some 77,000 -- are based in New South Wales, but every state has jobs in the app economy, the report said.

"The digital economy is going to be one of the major sources of growth going forward," Mandel said. "Australia's at a good starting place. I think what we're seeing now is that you can have a tech hub that isn't Silicon Valley. "

Apple said in a statement that iOS is responsible for around half the jobs the app economy has brought to Australia.

"The App Store has added more than 70,000 jobs to the Australian economy as our vibrant and diverse developer community grows, creating and selling more apps to customers around the world. We are proud of the contribution we are making to Australia through the app economy, as well as our 21 extremely popular retail stores and the 2,750 people Apple employs here directly," Apple said.