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The University of Otago contributes more than $1 billion to the Dunedin economy, a new university report says.

University strategy, analytics and reporting director David Thomson presented the university’s Economic Impact Report 2020 to the university council in its public session yesterday.

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Mr Thomson said the university’s contribution to the local gross domestic product, or gross regional product, had increased from 12% several years ago to 16%.

The Dunedin campus added $795,961,000 to the city and its students $265,953,000, he said, and that was a significant economic impact to Dunedin.

The number of jobs the university, its staff, and its students supported in Dunedin was 5313 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions, or 8% of Dunedin’s workforce

On its own, the university employed 4154FTE, in 2020, across its Dunedin, Christchurch, Invercargill, Wellington, and Auckland facilities.

It remained "easily" the biggest employer in Dunedin where 87% of its overall staff were based.

Last year, university enrolments reached 18,722 equivalent full-time students (EFTS) and 92% of those students were in Dunedin.

Total spending by the university, its staff and students was estimated at $2.3billion in Dunedin, and $3.9billion nationally, Mr Thomson’s report said.