Despite slipping from the top spot, Queenstown Lakes District Council is still the second-best council in the country, according to the 2011 Berl Economics annual index, which ranked the country's 72 territorial authorities for 2010.
Selwyn District, a regular in the top five since 2008, took the top spot in 2010, while Central Otago District and Southland District came in at No 8 and No 29 respectively.
Recent Quotable Value figures show Selwyn and Queenstown Lakes also share the distinction of having the country's biggest homes at an average of 181.3sq m and 181sq m respectively.
Of the country's city authorities, Wellington ranked the highest at No 11 on the Berl list.
Queenstown Lakes had the second-highest population growth over 2010, and the highest population growth and business unit growth in the medium term, the report said.
Over the past five years, Queenstown Lakes had a significant increase in businesses, with businesses unit growth averaging 4.2% per year. Growth in businesses has also been high in the Central Otago District at 2.5%.
The Southland District was the most open economy while Porirua City was the least open economy.
The list is based on a set of performance indicators including population growth, employment growth, GDP, business growth and business openness.
QLDC deputy chief executive and finance manager Stewart Burns said the district had been in the top three of the Berl rankings for the past three years.
"It's a measure of business health and essentially means we're weathering the economic conditions as well as any other district in the country. That's got to be a positive story," Mr Burns said.
