Understanding the economic role of Northern Rivers Region 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 the Northern Rivers Region'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.
Current area:
| Employment composition | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Rivers Region | 2024 | 2019 | 2014 | |||
| Industry | number | % | number | % | number | % |
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 6,315 | 4.4 | 6,844 | 5.3 | 6,072 | 5.4 |
| Mining | 443 | 0.3 | 344 | 0.3 | 316 | 0.3 |
| Goods related | 48,690 | 33.7 | 45,268 | 35.0 | 40,998 | 36.4 |
| Household services | 63,553 | 44.0 | 53,658 | 41.5 | 45,105 | 40.0 |
| Business services | 17,929 | 12.4 | 16,411 | 12.7 | 14,094 | 12.5 |
| Public administration and safety | 7,472 | 5.2 | 6,789 | 5.3 | 6,138 | 5.4 |
| Total Industries | 144,402 | 100.0 | 129,314 | 100.0 | 112,724 | 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 | ||||||