Northern Rivers Economic Profile and Natural Hazard Impact Report
An input into the Northern Rivers Disaster Adaptation Plan
This landmark report represents the most detailed study ever into the local economic impacts of natural disasters in Australia, and first time there has been an assessment of the economic impact of multiple disasters on a region in Australia.
Natural hazard events can have lasting economic and social consequences for the communities impacted. To this end, the NSW Reconstruction Authority engaged Deloitte Access Economics to undertake a landmark study to investigate the economic impacts of three recent natural hazard events on the region; the 2019-20 bushfires, the 2022 floods and Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred in 2025. The study provides the most comprehensive assessment to date of how natural disasters have affected the region’s people, infrastructure and development.
The report in finds that the Northern Rivers Gross Regional Product (GRP) took a cumulative $4 billion hit from these disasters over the past six years. This loss represents 2.9% of the economic activity that would have otherwise been expected over the period.
It is estimated that these disasters resulted in a combined $6.9 billion of socio-economic costs. This figure captures the lifetime costs of asset losses from each event due to damage to residential and commercial property, alongside flow-on economic and social costs, such as mental health effects, associated with these damages.
Encouragingly, despite these devastating economic impacts, the region’s GRP still grew 17.9% in real terms since 2019, showing strong underlying economic fundamentals. This growth matches that of Regional NSW, which has not experienced the same range of natural hazard disaster as the Northern Rivers.
Key industries like agriculture and tourism are particularly exposed to the impacts of natural hazards. While businesses identified the vulnerability of the region’s infrastructure—power, transport, and telecommunications— as a major concern. Other challenges include high insurance costs, housing shortages, labour stress, and the cumulative impact of disasters on business viability and wellbeing.
The report findings will help identify priority risks, shape targeted risk reduction actions and support the development of long-term adaptation pathways to deliver the greatest social and economic benefit for the region.
