Income per person in Sydney's booming economy has climbed to $80,000 a year, eclipsing the rest of NSW by more than $32,000.
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The value of goods and services produced in Sydney topped $400 billion for the first time last financial after the city's economy grew by 4.5 per cent, the fastest rate in 15 years and the third best on record.
That pushed Sydney's share of the national economy to a decade-high of 24.1 per cent, a report on the economic performance of Australia's cities and regions shows.
But as Sydney prospers, the rest the state is languishing. Regional NSW grew by just 0.4 per cent in 2015-16 following zero growth the year before.
Terry Rawnsley, the report's author and an economist at SGS Economics and Planning, said a prolonged downturn in regional manufacturing had been a factor in regional NSW's low growth rate.
"Over the past decade, manufacturing production has declined by more than 20 per cent in regional NSW," he said.
Income per person in regional NSW stood at $47,800 in 2015-16, having fallen in each of the past four years.
A $32,200 gap has opened up between Sydney's per capita income and the rest of NSW. That was the biggest disparity on record, Mr Rawnsley said.
Sydney's GDP per person was also $10,600 higher than the national figure – the highest margin since 2004-05.
He said the analysis underscored how important Sydney was to the national economy.
"These numbers just reinforce how Sydney is in a different league compared to the rest of the country," he said.
Nearly 40 per cent of all growth in the Australian economy last financial year was generated in Sydney – the largest proportion in nearly a quarter of a century.
NSW Treasurer Gladys Berejiklian said key indicators including jobs growth and housing approvals were strong in regional NSW last financial year but she acknowledged "pockets of challenge" across the state.
About a third of infrastructure spending planned by the state government will be in regional areas.
"We believe public investment encourages private investment, and as we continue to deliver infrastructure in our regions we expect to see ongoing growth in the years to come," she said.
The report on city and regional economies, prepared annually by SGS Economics and Planning using Bureau of Statistics data, drew attention to a growing growth gap between Australia's two biggest capitals and the rest of Australia.
This story first appeared on The Sydney Morning Herald.
