Toowoomba Region’s economy third largest in regional Qld for jobs

The Toowoomba Region’s economy has weathered the twin challenges of a prolonged drought and the more recent effects of the Coronavirus pandemic to emerge as the third largest regional economy for jobs in Queensland, based on a range of economic indicators drawn from industry and government data.

The data is contained in the latest Toowoomba Region Economic Profile (June 2021) that has been released by Toowoomba Regional Council’s Strategic Planning and Economic Development branch. An online version is available at www.tr.qld.gov.au/economicprofile 

Toowoomba Region Mayor Paul Antonio said the Region’s diverse economy had generated $11.6 billion in Gross Regional Product (GRP) in 2019-20, which equated to 3.1% of the Queensland economy. This measure ranks the Toowoomba Region economy as the second largest in Queensland outside the metropolitan areas. (Townsville ranks first, with Cairns third by GRP)

Mayor Antonio said the regional economy supported an estimated 82, 413 jobs. (Townsville and Cairns are first and second respectively for jobs in regional Queensland)

“Our Region’s decade-long run of uninterrupted economic growth was knocked off course by the Coronavirus pandemic, with a $126 million or 4.4% hit to our GRP in the June quarter 2020,” Mayor Antonio, who also is the chair of TRC’s Economic Development Committee, said.

“This decline was smaller than the average toll on the state and national economies. Factoring in the decline, our economic growth has been around 2.8% per year over the past decade, which is higher than the Queensland average.

“Before the pandemic’s economic jolt, the Toowoomba Region economy had grown by 3.6% per year between 2015 and 2019, above the Queensland figure of 2.5% per annum.

“Our unemployment rate was 4.2% in December 2019; but rose to 7.4% in June 2020 when the economic lockdown caused by the Coronavirus was at its worst.

“Our relative short lockdown compared with other parts of Australia and overseas has seen the jobless rate fall consistently this year to be Queensland’s lowest rate at 3.6% (June 2021), compared with the average state unemployment rate of 6.8% for June 2021.

“I’m especially pleased that our youth unemployment rate has fallen from a September 2020 high of 27.2 % to the second lowest in Queensland at 7.6% in June 2021.”

Mayor Antonio said ongoing private sector investment would underpin a return to pre-pandemic growth and drive future jobs growth.

“Despite drought and unfavourable conditions, a projected $200 million rebound in our Region’s crop production, compared with 2020 figures, is forecast to see the gross value of crop production total $352 million in 2021,” Mayor Antonio said.

“The total gross value of agricultural production is tipped to reach $995 million in 2021, which is 3.2% lower than the previous peak of $1.027 billion in 2018.

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

“Water security will be an essential part of underpinning ongoing growth. 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, plus business and industrial expansion.”

Other notable points include:

• An infrastructure pipeline of projects estimated at $13.1 billion (TSBE Status Report, February 2020).

• Based on the value added to an area’s economy, the Toowoomba Region has one of the most diverse economies in Queensland.

• Exports to international markets, particularly Asian markets, contributed $3.4 billion to the Region’s economy in 2019-20. Ongoing Asian growth will drive future growth opportunities for agriculture, the gas sector and tourism.

• Toowoomba is well positioned to take advantage of growth in Australia’s domestic land freight task. This sector is predicted to grow by 75% (measured from 2011 and extending to 2031).

• 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). In 2019-20, professional services generated $560 million in value added and employed 6% of Toowoomba’s workers.

• The Toowoomba Region’s Defence industry contributes 6.9% of the value added in the Defence industry in Queensland, while contributing 6.3% to the sector’s state employment.

• In 2019-20, the Defence industry contributed $231 million in value added to the Region’s economy, which was ahead of the $212 million for the Accommodation and Food Services industry.

• The Toowoomba Region will continue to benefit from national shifts underlining the importance of regional cities based on affordability, housing choice, high range of health and education services and overall liveability.