Economic report FAQS

Why did the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) commission this report?

Game and feral animals such as foxes and rabbits, deer, feral goats and pigs can have impacts on agricultural production, the environment and communities.

Hunting is recognised as one of a number of tools used in the management of game and feral animals and also as a legitimate recreational pursuit.

DPIRD regulates hunting activity on public lands through the administration of the Game and Feral Animal Control Act 2002 and its Regulation 2022.

The economic report was commissioned to understand and benchmark the level of economic activity stimulated by recreational hunters.

What was the scope of the report?

The report looked at the level of economic activity created by recreational hunting in NSW, including the direct and flow on economic benefits. Only hunting activity of Game Licence (GLH) and Non-Game Licence (non-GLH) holders was included; hunting activity carried out for commercial or exclusive pest control purposes was not assessed in the study.

The 2023 report (PDF, 4253 KB) covers hunting activity over a 12-month period to September 2022, which for context, is referred to as 2021-22.

What are the key takeaways from the 2023 report?

The gross economic contribution of recreational hunting (GLH & non-GLH) in NSW was estimated to be $509 million in Gross State Product (GSP) across 2021-22. This activity was estimated to support 4,192 jobs.

Of the 197,000 estimated recreational hunters, 24,000 are NSW GLH hunters and 173,000 non-GLH hunters. Recreational hunting methods include firearms, bows and dogs in NSW.

The average expenditure per hunter was estimated at $3,059 per annum, which is 26% higher than reported in 2017.

Active hunters took an average of 7 hunting trips during 2021-22. Hunters using dogs for pigs were most frequent, averaging 11 trips in the year. Firearm hunters averaged 6 trips and bow hunters averaged 4 trips.

The survey response levels in 2021-22 were 114% higher than in 2017.

Were the results significantly different to previous studies?

The 2023 report (PDF, 4253 KB) uses updated economic modelling assumptions based on data not previously available in NSW.

A report was released in 2017 (PDF, 1389.1 KB), which used some different data sets.

The 2017 report provided an estimated range for economic contribution: $667 million to $1,731 million in GSP. Limitation on the available data meant that a single figure could not be estimated.

With improved data, the 2023 report estimated recreational hunting contributed $509 million in GSP to NSW in 2021-22.

The updated report does not represent a decline in a hunting activity but is a more accurate benchmark of current levels of hunting economic activity.

What were the key differences between the 2017 and 2023 reports?

Average expenditure per hunter in 2021-22 increased 26% compared to the 2017 report, in nominal terms.

Survey response rates were 114% higher in 2021-22, which provided a higher level of confidence in the data.

The proportion of active non-GLH hunters relied on a newer more accurate data set sourced from AusPlay (a large-scale national population tracking survey by the Australian Sports Commission). The activity level used in 2023 is lower than the level used in 2017, the latter which was sourced from a Victorian study.

Newer data was also used to estimate the proportion of active GLH hunters. The new data indicated a lower but more accurate figure than the one used in 2017.

Average trips taken per hunter decreased by 33% in 2021-22. The survey period encompassed some Covid related movement restrictions, which likely limited the number of trips.

Hunting trips in 2021-22 were also likely impacted by limited access due to damage to infrastructure from natural disasters such as the 2019-20 bushfires and 2021-22 floods experienced in the state.

Survey respondents indicated strong intentions to increase hunting activity in the future.

Why were the differences between 2017 and 2023 reports large?

Improved data sets in the 2023 study resulted in some changes to key parameters used to evaluate the economic contribution from hunting, including:

• A lower estimate for the proportion of active non-GLH hunters:
  • Non-GLH hunter numbers make up the largest part of the recreational hunting population. Any changes to this group significantly impacts the final economic contribution estimate.
  • The 2017 report estimated non-GLH hunters who actively hunt ranged between 10% and 62% of the total non-GLH hunter population. This wide range was based on a Victorian study and had a significant impact on the results.
  • The 2023 report was able to refine the estimated number of active non-GLH hunters based on information obtained from AusPlay. The new report estimates 6% of non-GLH using firearms on private land were actively hunting and contributing to the NSW economy.
  • A rate of 10.5% was used for non-GLH non-firearm hunters on private land (e.g. pig dog and bow hunters) based on the AusPlay database.
• Estimates of the proportion of active GLH hunters reduced from 2017:
  • The proportion of active GLH hunters was not available for the 2017 report. An estimate of 62% was sourced from a Victorian hunting study in 2017.
  • For the current study, DPIRD Hunting was able to provide a participation rate of 29%.

Other factors influencing the economic contribution estimate included:

• The 2023 report included available data to refine the proportion of exclusive non-firearm recreational hunters, which reduced the overall population estimate for non-GLH.
• Average expenditure per hunter increased by 26% in nominal terms.
• Average trips taken per hunter decreased by 33%.
• Hunting trips were likely to have been impacted by Covid-19 travel restrictions and carried over damage from 2019-20 bushfires and 2021-22 flooding. This may have been offset by higher demand following removal of Covid lock downs.