4.1 Urban Economy and Role of the Town

The town is administration and commercial center. There are 61 manufacturing industries, 37 wholesale trades, 2101 retail trades, 168 service trades and 6 fuel stations and 6 garages in the town. There are four government and three private banks and one micro finance giving services in the town.

The average annual revenue of the municipality in 2008-2011 was 7,805,295 Birr and the major sources of

revenue were land rent, different property transfer tax & service charge. The

major investment opportunities in the town are: agro – industry processing,

constriction industry, hotel and tourism & social services. According to CSA

2007, economic activity rate was 44.2 for both sexes, 48.3 and 40.4 for males

and females respectively. The rate of unemployment in the same period was

11.8% for both sexes. The male and female unemployment were 9.1 and 14.1

respectively.Debre Markos town has economic linkages with the surrounding

areas and Addis Ababa. The town gets grain products, livestock supply,

natural resources (fuel wood and charcoal), and  labor from surrounding areas

manufactured and commercial products from Addis Ababa.