Why is something as superfluous as diamonds so costly, but something as essential as water so cheap? How can the cost of the coffee beans make up only a few cents of the price of a cup of coffee? With the world’s highest minimum wage rate, can Australia ever compete with low wage countries?

The ANU Bachelor of Economics provides a framework and a way of thinking to help answer questions like these. Your coursework will span economics (both theory and applied), econometrics, and other economics transdisciplinary courses while developing your analytical problem-solving and quantitative skills.

Whether working as an economist or in some other role, your Bachelor of Economics degree and training will be sought after.

Statistics opens the door to understanding our world by exploring data and modelling uncertainty. As our capacity to collect data accelerates, the need for statistical expertise has never been greater. Every day, over 328.77 million terabytes of data are generated globally, and the total volume of data worldwide is expected to reach 181 zettabytes by 2026, more than doubling from 2022 levels. This explosion of information outpaces our ability to interpret it meaningfully without advanced quantitative tools.

More than a decade ago, Hal Varian, Chief Economist at Google, famously predicted that “the sexy job in the next ten years will be statisticians.” That foresight has proved correct—and remains relevant today. In a data-driven world, statistics is indispensable across every discipline that grapples with uncertainty and complexity, from climate science and public health to economics, artificial intelligence, and national security.

Statisticians are in high demand across diverse sectors, including global tech companies like Google, Meta, and Amazon, financial institutions, government agencies, pharmaceutical firms, healthcare providers, and academic institutions. Moreover, statisticians are at the forefront of addressing critical challenges such as climate change, pandemic preparedness, cybersecurity, and economic inequality.

By completing the Bachelor of Statistics at ANU, you’ll gain the analytical skills and modelling expertise to make sense of an increasingly complex world. You will be equipped to extract insights from data, make informed decisions, and help solve some of humanity’s most urgent problems—through the lens of statistical reasoning and data science.

Employment Opportunities

Economics provides a foundation for careers in:

• Public policy
• International development
• Business and management
• Government and politics 
• Law
• Finance and insurance
• Teaching and education
• Marketing and tourism 
• Examples of job titles in economics are listed below.

Government Departments

Australian and overseas governments provide many career paths for economists. Departments like Finance, Treasury, the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Productivity Commission and the Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics recruit heavily from the ANU. Economists are also much in demand in other government departments dealing with issues such as Trade, Education, Employment and Social Security.  

Business and Management

Firms recruit economists because their advice is vital to businesses in understanding their business environment, how competitors react, and how changes in things such as interest rates, oil prices, exchange rates and consumer demand are likely to affect the business. Consultancy and accounting firms employ economists to advise their clients which include both private firms and governments.

International Agencies

International agencies such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and Oxfam recruit economists to advise them on the effects of policy changes, financial crises and conflicts in one part of the global economy on another, as they are transmitted through trade and financial flows. Economists advise on trade policy and macroeconomic policy coordination.

Resource and Environmental Economist

Economists are employed to study natural resource use and environmental problems and their relationship to economic behaviour. Employers include mining firms and regulatory agencies. Economists contribute to the better management of natural resources and improving the global environment.

Schools and Universities

There is a thriving national and international market for academic economists in High Schools / Colleges and Universities. 

Finance and Banking

Financial institutions including Banks, and in particular the Reserve Bank of Australia, actively recruit economists to advise them on the state of the economy and on risks from factors such as interest rate changes and exchange rate movements.

Economics provides a foundation for careers in:

• Public policy
• International development
• Business and management
• Government and politics 
• Law
• Finance and insurance
• Teaching and education
• Marketing and tourism 
• Examples of job titles in economics are listed below.

Government Departments

Australian and overseas governments provide many career paths for economists. Departments like Finance, Treasury, the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Productivity Commission and the Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics recruit heavily from the ANU. Economists are also much in demand in other government departments dealing with issues such as Trade, Education, Employment and Social Security.  

Business and Management

Firms recruit economists because their advice is vital to businesses in understanding their business environment, how competitors react, and how changes in things such as interest rates, oil prices, exchange rates and consumer demand are likely to affect the business. Consultancy and accounting firms employ economists to advise their clients which include both private firms and governments.

International Agencies

International agencies such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and Oxfam recruit economists to advise them on the effects of policy changes, financial crises and conflicts in one part of the global economy on another, as they are transmitted through trade and financial flows. Economists advise on trade policy and macroeconomic policy coordination.

Resource and Environmental Economist

Economists are employed to study natural resource use and environmental problems and their relationship to economic behaviour. Employers include mining firms and regulatory agencies. Economists contribute to the better management of natural resources and improving the global environment.

Schools and Universities

There is a thriving national and international market for academic economists in High Schools / Colleges and Universities. 

Finance and Banking

Financial institutions including Banks, and in particular the Reserve Bank of Australia, actively recruit economists to advise them on the state of the economy and on risks from factors such as interest rate changes and exchange rate movements.

Learning Outcomes

1. Solve economic problems using analytical reasoning.
2. Apply economic analysis to a wide variety of transdisciplinary issues.
3. Use basic empirical estimation techniques to test predictions pertaining to multiple disciplinary areas.
4. Provide insight into the way that households and individuals make decisions and interact, and the role of government in providing public goods and regulating the market sector.
5. Exhibit detailed knowledge of modern macroeconomic models, and be able to analyse and apply macroeconomic policy including clear explanations of the economic intuition.
6. Effectively communicate rigorous economic analysis in a coherent way to multidisciplinary stakeholders.

1. Review and synthesise a broad range of statistical knowledge from their chosen major.
2. Use the R statistical computing language to carry out a wide variety of statistical tasks.
3. Carry out model selection in a multiple linear regression modelling context in various discipline backgrounds.
4. Describe the concepts of stochastic processes in discrete and continuous time.
5. Describe and interpret probability theory, continuous random variables, and sampling distributions and the central limit theorem.
6. Using a diverse range of discipline backgrounds and varied data, analyse programming problems to suggest, design and implement appropriate modular program structures, based on a data-directed approach.

Further Information

Students in the Bachelor of Economics (a single or a combined degree with Economics) are not eligible to take the Economic Studies major or/and minor.

Students who wish to have one or more of the economics minors (econometrics, strategy and behaviour, or economic history) included on the transcript must contact CBE Info. If CBE Info is not contacted, the minor will not appear on the transcript even if all requirements are fulfilled.

Student Responsibility:

It is the student's responsibility to select electives in such a way that:

• they satisfy prerequisites for the corresponding course/s.
• they conform to the rules set out in Programs and Courses or, if unsure, seek advice from the CBE office .

It is the student's responsibility to select the courses appropriate for their program.

Students in the Bachelor of Economics (a single or a combined degree with Economics) are not eligible to take the Economic Studies major or/and minor.

Students who wish to have one or more of the economics minors (econometrics, strategy and behaviour, or economic history) included on the transcript must contact CBE Info. If CBE Info is not contacted, the minor will not appear on the transcript even if all requirements are fulfilled.

Student Responsibility:

It is the student's responsibility to select electives in such a way that:

• they satisfy prerequisites for the corresponding course/s.
• they conform to the rules set out in Programs and Courses or, if unsure, seek advice from the CBE office .

It is the student's responsibility to select the courses appropriate for their program.

Admission Requirements

Prerequisites

There are no formal program prerequisites. But assumed knowledge is:-ACT: Mathematical Methods (Major)/Further Mathematics/Specialist Mathematics (major)/ Specialist Methods or NSW: HSC Mathematics Advanced or equivalent. More information about interstate subject equivalencies can be found here.

• ACT:

Required: Mathematical Methods (Major) / Further Mathematics (Major) / Specialist Mathematics (Major) / Specialist Methods (Major)

Recommended: Specialist Mathematics/Specialist Methods (Major/Minor)

• NSW:

Required: Mathematics Advanced or equivalent

Recommended: Mathematics Extension 1 or equivalent

• VIC: Mathematics Methods or equivalent
• QLD: Mathematics Methods or equivalent
• TAS: Mathematical methods/Mathematics Specialised/Mathematics 1 and II through U Tas/Both Mathematics 1 and II through UTAS/Both Advanced Calculus and Applications 1A and 1B through UTAS
• SA / NT: Mathematical Methods or equivalent
• WA: Mathematical Methods or equivalent
• IB: Mathematics: Applications and Interpretations HL/Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches SL or HL

Adjustment Factors

Adjustment factors are combined with an applicant's secondary education results to determine their Selection Rank. ANU offers adjustment factors based on equity, diversity, and/or performance principles, such as for recognition of difficult circumstances that students face in their studies.

To be eligible for adjustment factors, you must have:

• achieved a Selection Rank of 70 or more before adjustment factors are applied
• if you have undertaken higher education, completed less than one year full-time equivalent (1.0 FTE) of a higher education program
• applied for an eligible ANU bachelor degree program

Please visit the ANU Adjustment Factors website for further information.

Scholarships

ANU offers a wide range of scholarships to students to assist with the cost of their studies.

Eligibility to apply for ANU scholarships varies depending on the specifics of the scholarship and can be categorised by the type of student you are.  Specific scholarship application process information is included in the relevant scholarship listing.

For further information see the Scholarships website.

Program Requirements

The Bachelor of Economics flexible double degree component requires completion of 96 units, of which:

A maximum of 48 units may come from completion of 1000-level courses

The 96 units must consist of:

42 units from completion of the following compulsory courses:

ECON1101 Microeconomics 1

ECON2101 Microeconomics 2

ECON3101 Microeconomics 3

ECON3102 Macroeconomics 3

EMET1001 Foundations of Economic and Financial Models

EMET2007 Econometrics I: Econometric Methods

STAT1008 Quantitative Research Methods

6 units from completion of a course from the following list:

ECON1100 Economics I (H)

ECON1102 Macroeconomics 1

6 units from completion of a course from the following list:

ECON2016 Economics II (H)

ECON2102 Macroeconomics 2

minimum 12 units of Transdisciplinary courses:

CBEA2001 Indigenous Perspectives in Business and Economics

ECHI1006 The Australian Economy: Past and Present

ECHI3009 World Economy Since 1800

ECON2013 Behavioral Economics

ECON2014 Managerial Economics

ECON2108 Japanese Economy and Political Economy

ECON2141 Strategic Thinking: An introduction to Game Theory

ECON2900 Development Poverty and Famine

ECON3004 Health Economics

ECON3006 Financial Economics

ECON3127 Computational Methods in Economics

ECON3128 Resource and Environmental Economics

ECON3180 Advanced Behavioural Economics

ECON3023 Economic Policy Issues

minimum 18 units of the following courses:

ECHI1006 The Australian Economy: Past and Present

ECHI3009 World Economy Since 1800

ECON1100 Economics 1 (H)

ECON2009 Labour Economics and Industrial Relations Policy

ECON2013 Behavioral Economics

ECON2014 Managerial Economics

ECON2026 Money and Banking

ECON2091 The Economy, Politics and the State

ECON2108 Japanese Economy and Political Economy

ECON2125 Optimisation

ECON2131 Public Sector Economics

ECON2141 Strategic Thinking: An introduction to Game Theory

ECON2900 Development Poverty and Famine

ECON3004 Health Economics

ECON3006 Financial Economics

ECON3023 Economic Policy Issues

ECON3057 Industrial Organisation

ECON3100 Economics 3 (H)

ECON3103 International Economics

ECON3127 Computational Methods in Economics

ECON3128 Resource and Environmental Economics

ECON3152 Game Theory

ECON3180 Advanced Behavioural Economics

ECON3181 Competition Policy and Regulation

EMET3004 Econometrics II: Modelling

EMET3006 Applied Microeconomics

EMET3007 Business and Economic Forecasting

EMET3008 Applied Macro and Financial Economics

12 units from completion of elective courses offered by ANU, which may include courses from the following course codes:

BUSI, BUSN, CBEA, COMP, ECHI, ECON, EMET, FINM, INFS, MATH, MGMT, MKTG, STAT

If your flexible double degree is within the College of Business and Economics (for example Commerce and Economics), the below study plan may show the same course twice. If this is the case, you must only do the course once and replace the other course with a University Wide Elective.

For majors and minors offered by the ANU College of Business and Economics, students may count a course towards multiple majors and minors. If a minor is a subset of all stated courses and/or prerequisites for a major, then completion of the major overrides completion of the minor, and only the major is regarded as having been completed. If all courses in a major and/or minor are compulsory courses in the degree, the major and/or minor will not be listed on the transcript.

The Bachelor of Statistics flexible double degree component requires completion of 96 units, of which:

A maximum of 48 units may come from completion of 1000-level courses

The 96 units must consist of:

48 units from the completion of one of the following statistics majors:

Applied Statistics

Probability and Stochastic Processes

Statistical Data Analytics

Theoretical Statistics

12 units from completion of the following compulsory courses:

STAT1008 Quantitative Research Methods

STAT2005 Introduction to Stochastic Processes

6 units from completion of an introductory mathematical statistics course from the following list:

STAT2001 Introductory Mathematical Statistics

STAT2013 Introductory Mathematical Statistics for Actuarial Studies

6 units from completion of a regression course from the following list:

STAT2008 Regression Modelling

STAT2014 Regression Modelling for Actuarial Studies

12 units from completion of an introductory mathematics courses from the following list:

MATH1013 Mathematics and Applications 1

MATH1014 Mathematics and Applications 2

MATH1115 Advanced Mathematics and Applications 1

MATH1116 Advanced Mathematics and Applications 2

12 units from completion of courses from the following list:

COMP1100 Programming as Problem Solving

COMP1730 Programming for Scientists

CBEA2001 Australian Indigenous Perspectives in Business and Economics

CBEA3001 College of Business and Economics Special Industry Project (UG)

CBEA3066 Global Business Immersion

CBEA3070 ANU College of Business and Economics Internship Program

MATH2301 Games, Graphs and Machines

MATH3511 Scientific Computing

Any other ANU courses

If your flexible double degree is within the College of Business and Economics (for example Commerce and Economics), the below study plan may show the same course twice. If this is the case, you must only do the course once and replace the other course with a University Wide Elective.

Students enrolled in Bachelor of Statistics/Bachelor of Actuarial Studies degree will need to enrol in STAT2013 and STAT2014, instead of STAT2001 and STAT2008.

Students enrolled in Bachelor of Statistics/Bachelor of Advanced Computing (Hons) degree will need to enrol in MATH1115 and MATH1116, instead of MATH1013 and MATH1014.

For majors and minors offered by the ANU College of Business and Economics, students may count a course towards multiple majors and minors. If a minor is a subset of all stated courses and/or prerequisites for a major, then completion of the major overrides completion of the minor, and only the major is regarded as having been completed. If all courses in a major and/or minor are compulsory courses in the degree, the major and/or minor will not be listed on the transcript.

Minors

Bachelor of Statistics Minors

Bachelor of Economics Minors

Study Options