New data shows regional and suburban areas are outperforming Sydney’s inner-city in both business growth and night-time in-person spending.

This trend is driven by population growth and infrastructure investment in Greater Western Sydney, including the new international airport due to open in 2026. Additionally, deliberate policies supporting the night-time economy, such as the Uptown District Acceleration Program, the Live Performance Venue Program and the Vibrancy Reforms, have likely further bolstered growth in these regions.

The geographic areas experiencing strong growth in core night-time economy businesses, including food, beverage, leisure and entertainment are:

  • St Marys and Bringelly (21 per cent growth)
  • Merrylands-Guildford (14.2 per cent growth)
  • Parramatta (14 per cent growth)

Pleasingly, several of the state’s regional areas are also recording strong night-time economy growth, with Kiama, Queanbeyan and Griffith experiencing more than five per cent growth.

The Office of the 24-Hour Economy Commissioner’s Data After Dark September 2024 quarterly report also reveals:

  • That night-time economy growth in Western Sydney and regional areas is also supported by more consumer spending shifting into the night. Spend data is tracked via online and in-person transactions across day and night.
  • In the past two years, people movement data suggests that more males travelled at night in all western Sydney and regional areas, except for Kiama-Shellharbour.
  • Female participation in the night–time economy is slightly higher in regional areas.
  • Regional areas saw a lower proportion of young people heading out at night.
  • In regional areas, Queanbeyan seemed to benefit from its proximity to Canberra, while Kiama benefited from its local centre and the neighbouring Port Kembla.

The NSW Government is supporting this decentralisation of nightlife through a raft of night-time economy boosting programs, including the Uptown District Acceleration, Open Streets and Community Improvement District programs.

The Government’s Vibrancy Reforms aim to make it easier for venues to do business and support the diversity of night-time offerings in communities across the state.

Minister for Music and the Night-Time Economy John Graham said: “COVID-19 has changed the night-time equation. People want to go out more often, and more nearby.

“That is driving a growing Parramatta foodie scene and a healthy live music scene popping up again on our state’s south coast. The epicentre of this night-time boom is Sydney’s west.

“For the first time, with the Data After Dark platform we can measure what is going on in our state’s night-time economy.

“The data shows clearly that people across NSW are seeking opportunities to go out closer to home. That is great for local businesses, but also for people who may choose to visit these areas.

“This data will serve as a basis for us to track how night-time economies outside of the Sydney CBD are performing as we continue our work to uplift and enhance the state’s night-time economy.”

24-Hour Economy Commissioner Michael Rodrigues said: “Data After Dark is a new digital tool that will measure the health of the night-time economy in NSW.

“We want people to get people off the couch and go out at night. This data shows that people don’t have to travel too far to find a great night out, regardless of where they live in NSW.

“From live performance to experiences like digital and arcade games, bowling and art shows, there are so many great offerings across NSW. We hope to see continued growth in the sector to support the unique night-time economies across the state.

Background

  • Data After Dark is a first of its kind tool that establishes a set of universal measures for night-time economies.
  • Operating as a collaborative data platform for council and government decision-makers, Data After Dark will help foster a shared understanding of the performance of the night-time economy and provide the first comprehensive, comparable and consistent insights on night-time economies across NSW.
  • The Data After Dark platform collects and integrates a range of key economic data relevant to the night-time economy and visualises them to present comprehensive findings and trends.
  • The data powering this platform is seamlessly integrated into the system, enabling access to the latest insights covering consumer spend, people movement, safety, businesses and more at any given time.
  • This new data is captured through the Government's revolutionary Data After Dark platform, which collates people movement data from mobile services, de-identified point of purchase taps and business data to provide comprehensive, comparable and consistent insights on night-time economies across NSW.
  • The September Data After Dark quarterly report has revealed several western and south-western Sydney suburbs are outperforming Sydney’s inner-city area in both business growth and night-time in-person spending over recent years.

The complete Data After Dark September quarterly report will be published later this month.