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 | 2020 | 2015 | 2010 | |||
Industry | $ | number | number | % | number | % |
Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 1,286 | 1.5 | 1,276 | 1.7 | 960 | 1.3 |
Mining | 547 | 0.6 | 429 | 0.6 | 323 | 0.4 |
Goods related | 30,232 | 35.8 | 25,916 | 34.5 | 28,268 | 39.0 |
Household services | 33,846 | 40.1 | 31,171 | 41.5 | 26,470 | 36.6 |
Business services | 12,481 | 14.8 | 10,470 | 13.9 | 10,665 | 14.7 |
Public administration and safety | 6,056 | 7.2 | 5,895 | 7.8 | 5,730 | 7.9 |
Total Industries | 84,447 | 100.0 | 75,157 | 100.0 | 72,415 | 100.0 |
Source: National Institute of Economic and Industry Research (NIEIR) ©2021. Compiled and presented in economy.id by .id informed decisions. Data are based on a 2016-17 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 |