The Value

The first way of valuing the Reef is through its annual contribution to the Australian economy in terms of value added (Gross Domestic Product) and employment.

Our research has shown the Great Barrier Reef contributed $6.4 billion in value added and over 64,000 jobs to the Australian economy in 2015–16 (direct and indirect). Most of these jobs came from tourism activities generated by the Great Barrier Reef, but there were also important economic contributions from fishing, recreational and scientific activities.

The annual employment supported by the Great Barrier Reef is more than most of Australia’s major banks, and many corporates including the likes of Qantas and Deloitte Australia.

Considering this, the Reef is critical to supporting economic activity and jobs in Australia. The livelihoods and businesses it supports across Australia far exceeds the numbers supported by many industries we would consider too big to fail.

Another way of valuing the Reef is its economic, social and icon asset value. This figure captures the broader aspects of why we value the Reef, and cannot be added to the annual economic contribution figure.

More than the jobs it supports and the value it adds to the economy each year, the Great Barrier Reef is valued at $56 billion as an Australian economic, social and iconic asset.

That's more than 12 Sydney Opera Houses, or the cost of building Australia's new submarines. It’s even more than 4 times the length of the Great Wall of China in $100 notes.

This is Australia’s Reef. This is our natural asset. If we split the $56 billion asset value down into its parts:

• Australians who have visited the Reef as tourists – on their honeymoon, on a family holiday, on a bucket-list trip – derive $29 billion in value
• Australians that have not yet visited the Reef – but value knowing that it exists – derive $24 billion in value
• And the lucky Australians that are recreational users of the Reef – going to the beach, taking the boat out, diving on the weekends – derive $3 billion in value.

So why do people value the Great Barrier Reef? What makes it worth $56 billion? Australians and the international community value the Great Barrier Reef for a range of reasons.

Some reasons are more concrete such as their belief in its importance for tourism, while some are more abstract such as their belief that Australia would just not be ‘the same’ without it.

Australians want their children and future generations to be able to visit the Great Barrier Reef and enjoy it. From a global perspective, the Great Barrier Reef’s importance to the planet and to biodiversity is paramount. By every measure, the Great Barrier Reef is seen as the natural asset contributing most powerfully to Australia’s global brand. In our research, the Great Barrier Reef left other Australian land-based natural assets far behind in terms of visitor preference, reputation and experience.

In 2009, the Foundation commissioned Oxford Economics to undertake an analysis of the total economic value of the Great Barrier Reef and the effects of bleaching in 2009. 

Deloitte Access Economics were engaged by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMPA) in 2013 to undertake an analysis of the annual economic contribution of the Great Barrier Reef.

Given the significance of the recent bleaching event and a heightened public dialogue about whether enough is being done to protect our Reef, the Foundation commissioned Deloitte Access Economics in 2016 to prepare a new report that provides the total economic value of the Great Barrier Reef.