Statistics and data

Data is displayed via graphs, tables and interactive maps together with easy-to-understand explanations and commentary.

For further information, view our online economic profile, our region's demographics and our economic context report 2023.(PDF, 755KB)

Snapshot of the local tourism visitor economy

Mornington Peninsula visitation at a glance for the period 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023.

• Overall, the Mornington Peninsula tourism region received 8 million (m) visitors in 2023, an increase of 6% on 2022.
• Day trip visitors from within Australia increased by 4% from 5.8m to 6m on the previous year.
• Overnight visitors from within Australia increased by 13% from 1.7m to 1.9m the previous year.
• International overnight visitors have not yet reached pre COVID numbers, with only 40,000 visitors coming from overseas.
• Of our overnight visitors during this period, 1.78m came from within Victoria and 145,000 from other states.
• Spend into the local economy by day trip visitors increased by 8% from $651m to $700m on the previous year.
• Spend into the local economy by Australian overnight visitors also increased by 16% from $925m to $1.06b on the previous year.
• Average spend per visitor: $116 per day trip visitor, $554 per overnight visitor during their stay (average of $226 per night)

NB: figures displayed are for the Mornington Peninsula tourism region which includes both the Mornington Peninsula and Frankston local government areas.

Next statistics release will be for the year ending March 2024 and is due for release in June 2024.

View more tourism statistics here for the Mornington Peninsula or other regions within Victoria via the Victorian Tourism and Events website.

Spendmapp reports

Spendmapp cleans and analyses bank transaction data by time, geography, expenditure category and type allowing continuous monitoring and analysis of local economic activity.

2021 Census reports

The ABS has released the first of the 2021 Census data(PDF, 3MB) which provides information on the demographic structure of our communities.

The March report(PDF, 838KB) provides a comparison between two Census periods, 2021 and 2011, and gives an insight into changes over the past ten years on the Mornington Peninsula.

The second release (October 2022) provides information about industry and employment included in the December report.(PDF, 3MB)

2021-2022 Business survey results

The 2021-2022 Business Surveys provide a detailed firsthand account of the challenges facing local businesses as they navigated COVID lockdowns and recovery. With almost 2,000 surveys conducted across more than thirty localities, this is the largest business survey Council has ever conducted.

To identify ways to support businesses in their journey towards COVID recovery, Council needed to gain a deeper understanding of the current business climate. To do this, it was important to hear from businesses in towns, villages and industrial estates across the region.

Some key findings from the survey were:

• The main industries that businesses surveyed included: Retailer (33.25%), Accommodation, Café and Restaurant (11.85%), Manufacturing (7.75%) and Building/Construction (6.70%).
• Overall business confidence is high with 90.4% of businesses rating their level of confidence five out of ten or higher, and 51.6% giving a rating of eight out of ten or higher.
• The biggest challenges facing businesses were engaging staff (26.32%) and sourcing products or suppliers (24.38%). The other main challenges included increasing revenue (20.53%) and engaging with customers (11.07%).
• Majority of businesses surveyed employed 5 staff or less. 80% of business that employ full time staff have 5 or less employees. While 84.5% of businesses employ part time staff have 5 or less employees.

Home-based business survey results

The Economic Development team at Mornington Peninsula Shire, offered businesses the opportunity to take part in a home-based business survey.  The aim being to strengthen our understanding of the home-based business sector.

A total of 485 respondents completed the survey. The mix of respondents included established and new businesses (startups), sole operators and those currently employing staff.

Some key findings from the survey were:

• A typical home-based business on the Mornington Peninsula has been operating for more than 10 years
• A typical home-based business operator works more than 31 hours per week and employs few or no staff
• Almost all respondents expect business to be steady or grow
• Over 90% primarily engage with customers face-to-face and are servicing the local market
• Access to affordable commercial space would help with their growth plans

The results of the survey have been used to create an Action Plan to help support our Home-Based Businesses (HBBs).

Some of these actions are to:

• provide opportunities for HBB’s to enhance their business capabilities to encourage business growth;
• link HBB’s with key service providers such as local co-working spaces;
• facilitate transition of HBBs wishing to move to commercial premises; and
• facilitate HBBs to expand markets, including beyond the region.