Releasing the 2015 Regional Economic Activity Report, Mr Joyce said the report identified opportunities for the Otago region to grow its economy further.
Otago, through Dunedin's education and health sector, was well positioned to continue developing high-value niches with health technologies and biotechnology, food processing, manufacturing, engineering and ICT.
''Otago can also generate higher returns from its tourism sector through greater product and market segmentation, with the aim of generating greater tourist expenditure per night.''
There were several Business Growth Agenda actions relevant to the Otago region, including strengthening Callaghan Innovation's regional footprint, expanding the ultra-fast broadband network and developing the Queenstown convention centre, Mr Joyce said.
The report was produced by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and provided the most recent facts on the economy of each region.
The report showed Otago had a population of 211,600, produced GDP of $46,684 per person and the region had a mean (average) household income of $90,000 - slightly ahead of the New Zealand mean of $89,000.
Queenstown had a mean household income of $111,100.
The mean weekly rental in Otago is $303, the employment rate is nearly 68% and the unemployment rate is one of the country's lowest at 3.8%.
The 2015 report also included a special feature on regional tourism, which forecast an increase in tourism in New Zealand based on a solid foundation of spending from the Australian market, large increases in Chinese visitors and visitor spending, and strong growth from the United States.
