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 | 2024 | 2019 | 2014 | |||
| Industry | number | % | number | % | number | % |
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 1,159 | 1.3 | 1,264 | 1.6 | 1,069 | 1.5 |
| Mining | 352 | 0.4 | 298 | 0.4 | 389 | 0.5 |
| Goods related | 29,119 | 32.2 | 28,363 | 35.3 | 27,112 | 37.3 |
| Household services | 41,063 | 45.4 | 34,331 | 42.8 | 27,679 | 38.1 |
| Business services | 12,261 | 13.5 | 9,906 | 12.3 | 10,345 | 14.2 |
| Public administration and safety | 6,585 | 7.3 | 6,137 | 7.6 | 6,033 | 8.3 |
| Total Industries | 90,538 | 100.0 | 80,299 | 100.0 | 72,627 | 100.0 |
Source: National Institute of Economic and Industry Research (NIEIR) ©2025. 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 | ||||||