Clutha Development Board chairman Jeff Seymour said there had been some dairy conversions in the district that had played their role in supporting manufacturing and construction businesses.
But sheep and beef farming remained the predominant part of the district's economy.
The Berl report showed primary production and processing sectors dominated the economy, with 56% of all district employment and up to 52% of the local economy.
Population growth seemed to be a major issue for overall economic growth.
The decline in population over the long term, and the falling numbers of businesses in the business services sector, might be linked with a lack of population growth discouraging new business services and vice versa, the Berl report said.
The report for the year ended March 2009 showed while it had been a difficult year for the national economy, Clutha performed "reasonably well".
Gross domestic product activity grew slightly, while it fell nationally.
Coupled with lower than national population growth, GDP per capita shrank far more slowly than at a regional or national level.
Labour productivity, which slumped dramatically across New Zealand, declined at half the pace in Clutha.
The major economic difficulty the district faces is a falling population.
As New Zealand recorded a 1.2% a year population expansion, the district's number of residents fell by 0.2%.
The 1.4% swing more than accounted for the lower growth in GDP, employment and business units, Berl said.
Mr Seymour remained optimistic about the future of the district and said 2009 had been a good year for farmers after four or five years of poor returns.
He believed Clutha had survived the recession better than most districts because it was coming from a low base.
He arrived in Balclutha in 1983 as an accountant, and remains today an accountant in a firm which has many rural-based clients.
"Like many other businesses in the district, we are here to service the rural community. We lost different services in the community years ago. What we have got left - from engineering to retail - keeps the rural sector serviced."
Three or so years after he arrived, the district lost businesses and population, but local groups banded together to make the district more efficient and effective in what it did.
When he arrived, farms were producing 12kg lambs.
Now, they were producing up to 20kg lambs and many more of them, thanks to better lambing percentages, he said.
Manufacturing in the district was tied to the primary sector, with the Silver Fern Farms Finegand plant employing about 1000 people and the Stirling dairy factory also a significant contributor for employment, he said.
"The number of businesses we have are quite small but they account for a large number of jobs."
Berl said the long-term decline in business services employment in the district was concerning.
Across New Zealand, business services employment had tended to be among the fastest growing.
"It may be that the falling population and the disestablishment of business services jobs work in a downward cycle. Falling resident numbers discourage investment by business services organisations, while a drop in the variety of business services available discourage immigration," Berl said.
However, one of the reasons the district had survived so well was because of the loyalty shown by local people buying local services, Mr Seymour said.
Very few of the district's manufacturers had export markets which were affected during the recession.
The commitment of locals to buy locally had helped enormously during the downturn.
If the recession meant the reduction in agricultural tariffs in Europe, then the Clutha district's farmers were well positioned to take advantage of any trade increases in sheep and beef products, he said.
Tourism was a growing part of the economy, but it was still "small-time", with bed-and-breakfasts and motels feeling some benefits as the Catlins area became a "must see" destination.
The Berl report noted Clutha had experienced growth in tourism over the 10 years to 2009, but at rates below that seen in New Zealand overall.
The number of businesses had grown at double the rate of employment, indicating the average tourism business was smaller than in earlier years.
Clutha District contribution to Otago economy in 2009
- Primary: 30.1%
- Manufacturing: 20.2%
- Construction: 7.7%
- Retail and distribution: 5.4%
- Business services: 4.3%
- Recreation services: 2.2%
- Social services: 4.3%
