Toowoomba region now worth $11.5b as city prepares for $13b project pipeline in coming years

New data from Economy ID names the region’s economy as the second-biggest in regional Queensland as of the 2019-20 financial year. See the major projects coming up here.

Upcoming projects in the Toowoomba region's pipeline (clockwise from top left) Interlink Sq, Inland Rail, Northgate Vista housing estate, Medibis cannabis project and the Wellcamp sport precinct.

Toowoomba’s economy has emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic as a true regional powerhouse, as the Darling Downs prepares to welcome billions in investment from dozens of major commercial projects.

New data from Economy ID, which has been compiled by the Toowoomba Regional Council into a new report, names the region’s economy as the second-biggest in regional Queensland as of the 2019-20 financial year.

Toowoomba’s gross regional product of $11.56bn was just behind Townsville, while our region also made it into the top three in terms of job creation and support.

Mining was once again the region’s top performer, adding $1.5bn to the local economy, followed by healthcare ($1.15bn), construction ($819m) and financial and insurance services ($787m).

Healthcare was by far our top employer, keeping more than 14,300 people in a job, while education and training (8700 jobs), retail (7800), construction (6900) and manufacturing (6100) rounded out the top five.

Toowoomba’s output was worth 3.1 per cent to the state’s entire economy, a worthy achievement for a region with a population of just 170,000.

Exports to international markets, particularly Asia, also contributed $3.4 billion to the region’s economy in 2019-20.

Mayor Paul Antonio said while the GRP shrunk slightly due to the pandemic, the Toowoomba region and wider Darling Downs well and truly punched above its weight in terms of economic output and product.

“In the past 25 years, we’ve gone from a country town to a critical regional capital,” he said.

“It’s for a lot of areas, including the people who come for healthcare and education.

“We’ve got the third largest regional economy for jobs, and we were beaten only by Townsville and Cairns, who are dependent heavily on tourism.

“In terms of gross regional product in Queensland, we are running second behind Townsville, which is pretty amazing.”

Mr Antonio said the key to the region’s success was its broad economic base, which meant it was not reliant on any one industry to succeed.

“Food product manufacturing continues to expand across meat, bakery and dairy product manufacturing and made up 40 per cent of manufacturing value added to the regional economy in 2019-20,” he said.

It comes as the Garden City gets ready to cater for projects worth more than $13bn, headlined by the massive Inland Rail through Wellcamp and the western corridor.

Other upcoming major projects include the Asterion and Medibis cannabis projects, which are worth $311m and $180m respectively once completed.

Toowoomba company Wagners also has several proposals in the investment pipeline, including a planned multimodal freight hub connecting to the Inland Rail and Wellcamp Airport ($90m), a motorsport and multisports precinct at Wellcamp ($170m) and the expansion of its composite-fibre technology manufacturing plant ($9m).

Mr Antonio said the truly exciting upcoming projects were in industries the region had yet to realise, like intensive horticulture.

“There are a number of projects out there that could come our way, so people are looking to see if they can establish a new enterprise, or broaden the enterprises here,” he said.

“The power here is the breadth of our economy, and there are some things coming that’s totally outside anything we’ve ever done before.

“These (projects) are totally outside the square and that’s how fortunate we are.

“Asterion didn’t have to come here, there are other places they could’ve gone but they chose here.

“Also, how fortunate we are to have local companies like FKG and the Wagners and the entrepreneurial skills that they possess, around projects like the airport or intensive horticulture.”

One of the region’s quiet achievers was in professional services, which has been steadily growing even during the pandemic.

“Toowoomba ranks fifth in regional Australian cities for the highest share of professional services as a share of total jobs behind Noosa, the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Wollongong, and that is worth $560m,” Mr Antonio said.

“The total gross value of agricultural production is tipped to reach $995 million in 2021.”

Mr Antonio said the region’s growth could be stymied by a lack of water security.

“Our current water sources are designed to cater for demand to 2049 and council is planning to ensure we have reliable water to cater for population growth,” he said.

Key projects

•Inland Rail – $13.3b 

•Trade distribution centre – $20m •Asterion cannabis project – $311m 

•Medibis cannabis project- $180m 

•FKG intensive horticulture project

•Toowoomba Hospital – $1b 

•InterlinkSQ – $1.2b 

•Wagners multimodal hub – $90m

•FKG gas-solar project – Upwards of $10m 

•Wellcamp sports precinct – $170m

•Habitat Mount Kynoch – $200m

•Northgate Vista housing estate

•Wagners CFT plant expansion – $9m