The Great South Coast is home to a robust agricultural base, producing a quarter of the nation's milk and among the finest Merino wool in the world.

Forestry is an increasingly important sector, with nearly 20 per cent of Australia's forestry plantations in or near the Great South Coast. In the coming years, harvesting of 180,000 hectares of blue gum plantation will see Portland become the country's largest hardwood chip handling port.

Four million tonnes of grain, wood chips, livestock, aluminium ingots and mineral sands move through the Port of Portland each year. More than 90 per cent of the region's wool, 82 per cent of its grains and 77 per cent of its skim milk powder, 45 per cent of its lamb products are exported to overseas markets.