GOVERNMENT TOOLS
CONSULTING
2026 Economic Data Update
The big stories from our 2026 Economic Data update and what it means for local economic development, investment attraction and policy and planning.
Register to watch this webinar and access resources on demand
What do changing economic conditions in Australia mean for workers, businesses and economic development in your community?
This on demand webinar shares the headlines from our 2026 Economic Data Update, now available for every Local Government Area in Australia.
Join Keenan Jackson, Urban Economist with Informed Decisions, as he unpacks the latest local area economic data and what it means for communities in capital cities, growth areas, regional centres, and rural and resource regions. Hear why Australia's headline growth number hid a per capita downturn, what drove each shift, and how the picture has changed since mid 2025 across interest rates, inflation, migration and commodities.
The session draws on our National Economic Dataset and Economic Profile, and shows how councils are already using this data to shape their economic development strategies and corporate plans.
This webinar was originally presented on Tuesday 14 July 2026.
PRESENTED BY
Keenan Jackson
Principal Consultant
The headline stories
What we cover in this session
Why the growth number hid a downturn
Why the headline growth number hid a per-capita downturn - and how it looked different in different places
How places performed differently
The main economic story by place: capital cities, growth areas, regional cities and towns, rural and resource regions
What drove each shift
What drove each shift: population, participation, more jobs or productivity
Industry highlights
The engineering productivity hit for professional services in the big capitals, mixed mining results, the rise and impact of data centres, another bumper year for Agriculture (except in South Australia) and the Healthcare sector marches on.
What's changed since June 2025
What's changed since the national data was released: interest rates, petrol pump inflation, migration, commodities, a slow down in Healthcare employment - and what this means for your place.
Q&A with Keenan
Keenan answering questions from the audience in the live Q&A.
Updated data is now available in our Economic Profiles
We have published our 2026 data update in our Economic Profiles.
The Economic Profile tracks the industries, jobs and business activity that shape your local economy, benchmarked against comparison areas, so you can see how your area is performing and where to focus next.
If you're responsible for economic development, investment attraction, strategy or corporate planning at a local government or regional advocacy group, this session will help you bring the local economic story for your area into your next plan or briefing.
Find an economic profile for your area here or learn more about our economic evidence base for local government.