In the district, 14.8 per cent of people aged 15 years and over hold a bachelor's degree or higher as their highest qualification, compared with 20 per cent for New Zealand as a whole.
Rotorua's unemployment rate is 10 per cent for people aged 15 years and over, compared with 7.1 per cent for all of New Zealand. Rotorua's median income (half earn more and half earn less than this amount), is $26,900. This compares with a median of $28,500 for all of New Zealand.
And, 22.9 per cent of people aged 15 years and over have an annual income of more than $50,000, compared with 26.7 per cent of people in New Zealand.
Business demographic data for the year ended February 2013 showed there were 6884 business locations in the district, a decrease of 5.2 per cent from the year ended February 2006.
There were 29,200 paid employees in the district, a decrease of 4.2 per cent from the year ended February 2006.
But, Excel Rotorua project leader Leith Comer said the two-year initiative, being led by Te Taumata o Ngati Whakaue Iho Ake Trust, focused on improving educational outcomes for all Rotorua's children and young people, with an emphasis on local solutions for local needs and aspirations.
"From what I have seen we are doing really well in the early stages of our children's secondary school education, so all of those stats are trending upwards. The real challenge is getting kids to aim higher and stay in education.
"While having a degree is important and can lead to higher wages and better employment opportunities, there are also other indicators in education we should be looking at.
"We are looking at other pathways to further education such as trade qualifications or qualifications in other areas," said Mr Comer.
Grow Rotorua chief executive Francis Pauwels said the economic data was a concern, but the organisation was working hard with the council to bring new economic growth to the district through increased investment. "The focus has to be on more job growth and particularly in higher paying jobs where possible, something identified as a key goal in the council's Rotorua 2030 vision.
"The period from around late 2007 through to late 2013 has been very tough economically everywhere because of the global financial crisis, which has had massive impact on sectors such as tourism and housing.
"However, that data is for an historical period and today we're starting to assemble an encouraging picture that's showing things are turning around now.
"We do have real scale of opportunities in the geothermal direct-use, export wood processing, education and tourism areas and if we took a snapshot of the last few months it would be a much more positive image, as there is today a good deal of anecdotal, and actual, business confidence showing for Rotorua," Mr Pauwels said.
