Economic Report Summary - Capricorn Enterprise

The Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton area comprises nineteen statistical area level 2s (SA2s) and covers a total area of 18,356 sq km, which accounts for 1.1% of the state. It includes the local government areas of Livingstone Shire Council and Rockhampton Regional Council and the urban centres of Emu Park, Gracemere, Mount Morgan, Rockhampton and Yeppoon.

A summary of the economic profile (April 2025) follows. The full report can be accessed from here.

The following statistics are based on the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian Statistical Geography Standard 2016.

A Productive Region

Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton Region Gross Product (GRP) was $8.2B (2023/24)
Resources contribution to the economy was $2.9B GRP (2023-24)
The value of exports from Gladstone Port was $43,007.5 million, or 37.5 per cent of Queensland’s exports in 2023-24.

Diverse Agricultural Sector – The Region is home to the Central Queensland Livestock Exchange, two of the largest abattoirs in the country which provide added value with the processing for market also undertaken within the Region and lush pastures and water availability resulting in livestock making up 75.2% of the Region’s total agricultural production.

Demography

The estimated resident population of the Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton area in 2024 was 128,183 persons.
Between 2019 and 2024, the population increased by an average of 1.3% per annum.
As at 30 June 2023, the Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton area had a greater proportion of persons aged 0-19 years, 55 years and over than Queensland.
Between 2018 and 2023, the greatest increase in population in the Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton area was persons aged 65 to 69 years.
Population projections indicate that the population of the Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton area in 2046 is projected to increase to 159,370 persons.
It is predicted the region will grow on average by 1,463 persons per year between 2021 and 2046.

Employment

The total estimated labour force in the Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton area for the December quarter 2024 was 71,404 persons.
The unemployment rate in the Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton area in the December quarter 2024 was 5%.
The average total personal income in the Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton area for the 2021-22 financial year was $68,348.
At the time of the 2021 Census, health care and social assistance was the largest industry of employment in the Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton area, accounting for 16.5% of the region’s employed workforce.
The health care and social assistance industry experienced the highest percentage growth of employed persons by industry between 2016 and 2021.
At the time of the 2021 Census, the largest occupational group of residents in the Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton area was technicians and professionals (9,089 persons) followed by technicians and trades workers (8,938 persons).

As at 30 June 2024, there were 9,048 businesses registered in the Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton area. The industry with the most businesses was construction (19.1%).
Of the 8,897 businesses registered that reported turnover in the Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton area, 23.9% reported a turnover of between $0 and less than $50,000.
The total gross value of agricultural production for the Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton area in 2021 was $239.8 million.
Livestock slaughtering made up 75.2% of the Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton area’s total value of agricultural production in 2021.
In dollar value terms in 2023-24, coal, coke and briquettes was the main type of commodity exported from Gladstone Port after combined confidential items.
In 2023 – 2024, China was the major country of destination for Queensland commodity exports from Gladstone Port.
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Building Activity

There were 478 residential dwelling approvals in the Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton area in the year ending 31 December 2024.
Residential dwelling approvals in the area were valued at $286.9 million for the year ending 31 December 2024.
The value of residential building approvals in the Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton area during the December quarter 2024 was less than the September quarter 2024.
The value of non-residential buildings approved in the Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton area in the December quarter 2024 was $27.0 million.
In the Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton area, 763 residential lots were approved in the year ending September 2024.

Education

Home to Queensland’s first dual sector university and TAFE.
During the June quarter 2021, there were 2,648 apprentices and trainees in the Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton area.
In the Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton area at the time of the 2021 Census, 56.6% of persons aged 15 years and over held a non-school educational qualification.
At the time of the 2021 Census, the most common field of qualification was society and culture.
In 2021, the Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton area had 41 primary schools, 11 secondary schools and 5 schools that combined both primary and secondary schooling.
In 2023, of the 22,437 primary and secondary school students in the Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton area, 50.7% attended government schools and 49.3% attended non-government schools.

In 2023, of the five major roads providing access to Rockhampton, the Yeppoon Road at Jordy Drive had the highest average daily traffic movements (13,861 vehicles).
The Yeppoon Road had the highest average daily number of heavy vehicles in 2023 (2,176 vehicles).
The Yeppoon Road had the highest number of light vehicles (11,684) and the highest percentage of light vehicle traffic (85.3%) was on the Emu Park Road.
During 2024, a total of 655,886 passengers passed through Rockhampton Airport.
Passenger movement through Rockhampton Airport increases 3.7% between 2023 to 2024.

Affordability

Indexed retail prices in Queensland in 2015 show centres surveyed in the Fitzroy SA4 had prices both higher and lower than Brisbane for different household goods and services.
The median house price for the Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton Region in the 12 months to the end of September 2024 was $490,000.
The median unit and townhouse price for the Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton Region in the 12 months to the end of September 2024 was $390,000.
The median vacant urban land price for the Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton Region for the 12 months ending September 2024 was $235,000.
During the March quarter 2025, the Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton area recorded a median weekly rental price for two-bedroom flats/units of $360 per week and $500 for three-bedroom houses and $580 for four-bedroom houses.