Understanding the economic role of Cairns Regional Council provides a framework for understanding what policy responses and investment may be appropriate to support the growth of businesses and maintenance of a vibrant economy in the future.
The charts and table below give a broad overview of the role and function of your economy. It helps answer questions such as:
- How much of Cairns's economy is driven by meeting the local population needs?
- What proportion of jobs in the area are in goods production or selling of products?
- In which broad sectors are the key strengths of the local economy?
- What contribution do business services make in your area and is it growing?
- Is there a presence of local, state and federal government workers in in the area?
Once you have developed a broad picture of your economy, you can then drill down further with all the detail here.
| Employment composition | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cairns | 2023 | 2017 | 2012 | |||
| Industry | number | % | number | % | number | % |
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 1,270 | 1.4 | 1,302 | 1.7 | 1,068 | 1.5 |
| Mining | 340 | 0.4 | 271 | 0.4 | 390 | 0.5 |
| Goods related | 28,748 | 32.5 | 25,861 | 33.6 | 27,112 | 37.3 |
| Household services | 39,632 | 44.8 | 32,479 | 42.2 | 27,678 | 38.1 |
| Business services | 11,875 | 13.4 | 10,876 | 14.1 | 10,344 | 14.2 |
| Public administration and safety | 6,698 | 7.6 | 6,219 | 8.1 | 6,033 | 8.3 |
| Total Industries | 88,563 | 100.0 | 77,008 | 100.0 | 72,625 | 100.0 |
Source: National Institute of Economic and Industry Research (NIEIR) ©2024. ©2023. Compiled and presented in economy.id by .id (informed decisions). Data are based on a 2020-21 price base for all years. NIEIR-ID data are inflation adjusted each year to allow direct comparison, and annual data releases adjust previous years’ figures to a new base year.Learn more. Please refer to specific data notes for more information | ||||||