Two thirds of Australians who are experiencing a recession are living in Queensland, research has revealed.

Despite the national GDP growth averaging about 2.8 per cent since 2011, about 6.6 million people were living in regions where economic activity had contracted during the 2014-2015 financial year, according to SGS Economics and Planning research.

Toowoomba was hit hard in the 2014-2015 financial year.

Regional economics expert Terry Rawnsley, who authored the research, estimated two thirds of those, about three million, were living in Queensland, where the mining bust had hit hardest.

"It is quite a broad-based slowdown in regional parts of Queensland, but so much comes back to decline in investment in the mining sector," he said.