Economy

Located in the heart of Victoria’s Goulburn Valley, our central location, extensive infrastructure, entrepreneurial community spirit, quality fresh food, and manufacturing excellence, all combine to provide an ideal environment and climate to grow and thrive.

The region has a strong and well-developed economy, based primarily on irrigated agriculture, food processing, retail and road transport.

In 2017-2018, the gross value of agricultural production in the Shepparton region was $1.9b, which was 13 per cent of the total gross value of agricultural production in Victoria ($15b).

The Shepparton region has a diverse agricultural sector. The most important commodities in the Shepparton region based on the gross value of agricultural production were milk ($570m), followed by cattle and calves ($242m) and apples ($158m). These commodities together contributed 52 per cent of the total value of agricultural production in the region. In 2015-2016 the Shepparton region accounted for 74 per cent ($51.4m) of the total value of Victoria’s pear production.

Local entrepreneurs and small businesses are the backbone of our communities equating to 35.6 per cent of the business sector. Council will continue to support them to prosper and grow, thus retaining local knowledge, building skills and employment in the region.

Tourism and events represents another important sector for Greater Shepparton. In 2017/18 the total economic impact of major events in Greater Shepparton was $44.3m while the tourism impact was $176m.

Employment

People within Greater Shepparton are primarily employed in the following sectors:

  • Health Care and Social Assistance (5,668 people or 17 per cent);
  • Agriculture (3,227 or 9.8 per cent);
  • Retail Trade (3,550 people or 10.8 per cent);
  • Manufacturing (3,101 people or 9.4 per cent);

closely followed by construction, education and training, accommodation and food services and professional services.

more about the region's biggest employers

The unemployment rate for Greater Shepparton is currently at 4.7 per cent (March 2019).