The 2008 Economic Profile, prepared by Business and Economic Research Ltd (Berl), was presented to a meeting of the Dunedin City Council's economic development committee yesterday.
It found the Dunedin economy employed 50,000 full-time equivalent workers (FTEs) and created $4.3 billion in value added (or GDP) across 10,800 businesses, as of March 31 last year.
However, the annual figures also showed Dunedin's population growth (0.3%) was "significantly slower" than the national average (1%), while employment growth (0.6%) was close to the national average (0.8%).
The Berl report, commissioned by the council's economic development unit, covered only the year and decade to March 31 last year because more up-to-date figures were not available for analysis until late last year.
Council EDU manager Peter Harris, who prepared a report on the findings for yesterday's meeting, acknowledged the profile's lack of recent figures made insights into the rapidly changing economic situation difficult to gain.
However, it could still help paint a picture of the local economy's structure and historic growth, Mr Harris believed.
The profile's 10-year figures showed Dunedin's resident annual population growth (0.4%) was below the national average (1.2%), but GDP per capita growth (2.3%) exceeded the national average (2%), the report found.
"Employment growth has been slightly below the national average - 2.1% versus 2.4% - but when this is put in context of the much lower population growth, this is a very strong result," Mr Harris' report found.
The figures showed Dunedin employment rose by more than 9000 FTEs, and GDP by almost $1 billion, during the decade, the report said.
The report also identified key challenges, including reliance on government funding for key industries and productivity.
