North economist Tony Mackay believes the growth of out-of-town retail parks has diverted a lot of business away from the centre of the Highland capital.
He said: “Most towns and cities in Scotland have experienced the same trend, so Inverness is not unusual in that regard.
“There have been various central government and local initiatives to try to counter this trend, but they have had little success.
“Mike Smith and his colleagues in the Inverness Business Improvement District team have done a lot of good work but more needs to be done.”
The departure of many white-collar employers is also a factor the downturn.
Mr Mackay cites Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Highland Council as two examples.
While HIE is currently based in the city centre, it will soon relocate to Inverness Campus on the outskirts.
And the council’s planning department abandoned Church Street for a business park at Inshes.
Mr Mackay said: “This has meant that the city centre has lost the lunchtime and other spending of the people who previously worked there.”
He added that disruptions to traffic had also adversely affected businesses.
“The obvious example at the present time is the fire which destroyed the M&Co building on Academy St.
“The flood prevention works along the River Ness have been a fiasco – at least 12 months late and massively over budget – and have seriously affected businesses on Huntly Street and Bank Street.”
Mr Mackay also criticised the list of City Region Deal projects.
He warned: “It will be a missed opportunity to revitalise the city. The list is a ragbag of projects, mainly intended to alleviate the council’s budget problems.
“The council should do much more to support the work of the Bid team.
“I would also like to see more emphasis on house building in the city centre so that more people can live and work there without having to travel to the out-of-town locations.
“The recent start of work to build student flats at Rose Street is very welcome in that regard.”