The figure compares the proportion of people employed in five occupational sectors in Australia – Sales, Accounting, Computing, Nursing, and Farming – in 2001 and 2008.
Overall, Sales remained the largest sector in both years, while Farming was consistently the smallest. However, there were some notable changes among the other three sectors.
In 2001, there was a significant gap between the sizes of different fields. Sales was the most common occupation, with just under 160,000 workers. Accounting ranked second at approximately 65,000 employees. Computing and Nursing followed, each employing slightly below 60,000 people. Farming was by far the smallest sector, with around 30,000 workers.
A similar pattern was observed in 2008, with Sales increasing slightly to about 165,000 employees. The most notable change occurred in Computing, which grew sharply to nearly 80,000 workers, becoming the second-largest sector. Nursing also experienced a mild increase, reaching exactly 60,000. By contrast, Accounting declined to just under 60,000 workers, falling to fourth place. Farming remained the least common profession, dropping further to around 20,000 employees.