CommSec’s state of the states survey said Queensland had the second-best performing economy in the nation behind Tasmania, but it also highlighted the state’s poor housing and construction sectors.

Its previous best-ever performance was nine years ago when it ranked third.

This time, CBA said there was not much separating the economies of Tasmania, Queensland, the ACT and Western Australia. Tasmania’s strength was relative economic growth.

Queensland’s population growth was credited with its improved performance. It also ranked first in relative unemployment.

While population growth has economic benefits it has also created pressures in the economy, particularly in housing.

“When looking at annual growth to get a guide on economic momentum, Queensland had annual growth rates that exceeded the national average on five of the eight indicators,” CommSec said.

“Queensland has the strongest job market. Unemployment was at 3.7 per cent in September, 38.6 per cent below the decade average,” CommSec said.

Queensland’s annual economic growth was at 21.3 per cent, retail spending was up 6 per cent, equipment investment 9 per cent, but construction work fell back by 3.8 per cent, housing finance was down by almost 10 per cent and dwelling starts slumped 42 per cent.

“Population growth is clearly an important driver of the broader economy, especially retail spending and housing demand. With the end of foreign border closures, annual population growth is lifting across the states and territories. However, Queensland has population growth (1.81 per cent) above its decade average.

The next best on the population measure was WA.

Queensland’s consumer price index was running at 7.3 per cent in the June quarter, just below WA at 7.4 per cent. Wages growth in Queensland was 2.9 per cent, the equal strongest with Tasmania.

The annual house price growth in Queensland in September was 12.8 per cent, the second highest behind South Australia at 19.6 per cent.