Understanding the economic role of Southern Downs 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 the Southern Downs Regional Council'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 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Downs Regional Council | 2024 | 2019 | 2014 | |||
| Industry | number | % | number | % | number | % |
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 1,801 | 10.9 | 2,150 | 13.9 | 2,234 | 14.1 |
| Mining | 75 | 0.5 | 78 | 0.5 | 79 | 0.5 |
| Goods related | 6,917 | 42.0 | 5,746 | 37.0 | 6,516 | 41.1 |
| Household services | 5,641 | 34.3 | 5,706 | 36.8 | 4,949 | 31.2 |
| Business services | 1,362 | 8.3 | 1,216 | 7.8 | 1,319 | 8.3 |
| Public administration and safety | 653 | 4.0 | 620 | 4.0 | 768 | 4.8 |
| Total Industries | 16,449 | 100.0 | 15,516 | 100.0 | 15,865 | 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 | ||||||