Economic activity means, very broadly, how many goods and services are being produced in a region, and how much economic value is being added at each stage of production. Total economic activity can be measured using a wide range of indicators. For example, GRP is a measure of the value of final goods and services produced over a given time period, in a specific geographic region. It is similar to Gross Domestic Product, but measures it for a local region rather than for a nation.

There are few sources of publicly available data estimating GRP for Australia’s rural local government areas (LGAs), although a number of commercial products exist that produce estimates of GRP for a fee (see for example economy.id or REMPLAN). An example of GRP for large regional areas, comparing GRP in 2016 and 2021 for large regions, is available here.

Other measures of economic activity can include total spending or total business revenue in a given geographic region during a specific period of time. Similar to GRP, these are not generally available publicly for small rural regions.

Measures of economic growth have some association with wellbeing, in that periods of significant economic decline often go hand in hand with a reduction in quality of life due to reduced economic opportunity. However, economic growth does not mean quality of life is improving. In a rural area, it is possible to have a period of time where there is high economic growth – due for example to a need to rebuild after a disaster – but at the same time a decline in wellbeing of people living in the community. Therefore measures of GRP should not be used as indicators of change in wellbeing. They do however provide insight into whether a change in economic activity may be contributing to changes observed in wellbeing.

Advantages: Economic growth is an indicator that is widely used and understood.

Disadvantages: Economic growth is well established to be a poor indicator of the quality of life of those living in a community. There are varying methods for estimating regional GRP, which are not always comparable. There is not a single set of publicly available data estimating regional GRP.

Most publicly available data on economic activity does not provide small area data for rural regions of Australia. For example, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) produces monthly estimates of household spending, but data are produced for state and territory scales only. It is generally necessary to purchase data from commercial providers to estimate economic activities for small regions such as local government areas.