Fourteen Queensland Local Government Areas (LGAs) covering 36 per cent of the State are now drought declared (see map below), with Mt Isa the latest addition (see Queensland Country Life coverage: Qld drought spreads). These LGAs account for around 12% of Queensland’s agricultural output, according to my calculations based on ABS data. As such, the macroeconomic impacts on the Queensland economy are likely to be small, but the situation warrants close monitoring.