Economic Report Summary
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 (March 2024) 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 $7.3B (2021-22)
- Resources contribution to the economy was $2.5B GRP (2021-22)
- The value of exports from Gladstone Port was $43,774 million, or 35.9 per cent of Queensland’s exports in 2021-22.
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 2022 was 124,675 persons.
- Between 2016 and 2021, the population increased by an average of 0.5% per annum.
- In 2022, the Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton area had a greater proportion of persons aged 0-19 years, 55 years and over than Queensland.
- Between 2017 and 2022, the greatest increase in population in the Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton area was persons aged 60 to 64 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 June quarter 2023 was 68,983 persons.
- The unemployment rate in the Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton area in the June quarter 2023 was 3.8%.
- The average total personal income in the Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton area for the 2019-20 financial year was $65,914.
- 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).
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Business and Industry
- In 2022-23, there were 8,900 businesses registered in the Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton area. The industry with the most businesses was construction (19.0%).
- 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 2021-22, coal, coke and briquettes was the main type of commodity exported from Gladstone Port after combined confidential items.
- In 2021-22, China was the major country of destination for Queensland commodity exports from Gladstone Port.
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Building Activity
- There were 407 residential dwelling approvals in the Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton area in the year ending 31 December 2023.
- Residential dwelling approvals in the area were valued at $238.7 million for the year ending 31 December 20232.
- The value of residential building approvals in the Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton area during the December quarter 2023 was less than the September quarter 2023.
- The value of non-residential buildings approved in the Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton area in the year ending 31 December 2023 was $143.3 million.
- In the Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton area, 603 residential lots were approved in the year ending 30 June 2023.
Education
- Home to Queensland’s first dual sector university and TAFE.
- During the June quarter 2021, there were 2,682 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 7 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.
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Transport
- In 2020, of the five major roads providing access to Rockhampton, the Yeppoon Road at Iron Pot Creek (just west of the Cawarral turnoff) had the high average daily traffic movements (11,373 vehicles).
- The Bruce Highway north of Scrubby Creek (just south of the Yeppen roundabout, south of Rockhampton) had the highest average daily number of heavy vehicles in 2020 (1,520 vehicles).
- The Yeppoon Road at Iron Pot Creek had the highest number of light vehicles (10,476) and the highest percentage of light vehicle traffic (88.7%) was on the Emu Park Road at Nerimbera.
- During 2022-23, a total of 557,583 passengers passed through Rockhampton Airport.
- Passenger movement through Rockhampton Airport decreased 1.8% between 2013-14 and 2022-23.
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 2023 was $405,000.
- The median unit and townhouse price for the Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton Region in the 12 months to the end of September 2023 was $337,000.
- The median vacant urban land price for the Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton Region for the 12 months ending September 2023 was $230,000.
- During the December quarter 2023, the Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton area recorded a median weekly rental price for two-bedroom flats/units of $340 per week and $450 for three-bedroom houses.
