WA's a big economy on its own

WA would be one of the world's 50 biggest economies if it were a stand-alone nation.

New figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics confirm that the State's economy is now bigger than those of countries such as Pakistan, Romania and Algeria.

It would be ranked the 47th biggest and, given its strong record in recent years, would be well on its way to overtaking economic basket cases such as Ireland (42nd) and Portugal (38th).

WA's gross state product grew 3.5 per cent in the 2010-11 financial year to reach $187 billion.

Not only is the WA economy growing, it is also making the State's residents richer.

WA, if it was a separate country, would be the world's third richest in terms of GDP per capita, which rose to $80,858 during 2010-11.

Only the tiny nation of Luxembourg and Norway would be richer than WA.

However, it would be eclipsed by Canberra, where per capita GDP now stands at $81,420.

Despite the State's growth rate being the fastest in the country, it was WA's worst performance since 2004-05.

Through the past decade the State has grown 4.6 per cent a year, the strongest performance in the country and shading second-placed Queensland, which averaged 4.2 per cent.

Treasurer Christian Porter said the figures were further evidence that WA was driving the national economy.

But he warned new threats from the Gillard Government on GST funding would undermine the State.

"It is through our strong resources and mining sector that we have been able to steer Australia through significant downturns in the global financial economy in recent years," Mr Porter said.

"That is why it is so absolutely mind-boggling the Commonwealth Labor Government is threatening to penalise States such as WA for increasing royalties on the mining industries."

There were further signs that the WA economy continues to grow strongly, with construction work figures showing a 58 per cent jump in engineering spending in the three months to September.

There was $10.6 billion worth of engineering work completed across the State, the first time since records were collected that WA topped the nation in terms of spending.