The table compares the percentage of people working in 6 different industries in Australia in the period of 20 years, from 1989 to 2009.
Overall, it can be seen that the proportion of workers in manufacturing and retail went down, while all other sectors showed growth. Health care, education and tourism became more popular during the period.
In 1989, manufacturing was the largest sector with 15% of the workforce, but in 2009 it fell sharply to the rate of 9.8%. Retail also decreased from 11.8% to 10.1%. By contrast, health care increased from 9.6% to 11.3%, becoming the most significant sector at the end.
Other areas also grew. Construction rose a bit, from 7.6% to 8.3%, while the proportion of education increased from 6.8% to 7.5%. The smallest industry remained tourism, which is had only 5.5% in 1989 but reached 7.3% in 2009, which was a significant rise.
