New South Wales has been placed last in a list of Australian states and territories ranked according to how their economies have performed over the past 12 months.

Tasmania was found to have had the best performing economy in Australia, which CommSec attributed to the fact that it was less affected by the global financial crisis than other states and territories.

South Australia came in second thanks to its relatively small financial sector while the resource states of Western Australia and Queensland came in third and fourth respectively. However, the report indicated that both WA and Queensland could expect strong growth as the global economy, and China in particular, begins to recover.

The Australian Capital Territory was placed fifth with middle rankings across most indicators while the Northern Territory finished sixth due to a downturn in investment, underperforming housing activity and low population growth.

Victoria and NSW, placed seventh and eight respectively, were particularly prone to the affects of the global downturn due to their large financial sectors. The performance of the jobs markets in both states also lagged behind, which had a knock-on impact on retail spending and general economic growth.

Each of the states and territories were assessed on eight key indicators: economic growth, retail spending, business investment, construction work done, population growth, housing finance, dwelling commencements and unemployment.

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