FOR generations, Ipswich’s economic identity was built around coal, rail, manufacturing and defence.
Those industries helped build the city and remain part of its economic backbone, but the Ipswich of today is becoming a very different proposition.
A rapidly growing population, expanding health and education sectors, billions of dollars in development and continued strength in manufacturing, construction, logistics and defence are combining to reshape the local economy.
The clearest indication of that change came when Ipswich’s Gross Regional Product broke through the $15 billion barrier for the first time in 2025.
But perhaps more important than the headline number is where that growth is coming from.
Ipswich remains a city where people make, build, transport and maintain things, but its economic base is becoming increasingly diverse.
Public administration and safety generated about $1.8 billion in value, while manufacturing and construction each contributed about $1.6 billion and healthcare added another $1.5 billion.
Healthcare and social assistance, education and training and manufacturing have been among the sectors driving the city forward.
At the same time, construction, manufacturing and transport, postal and warehousing recorded some of the strongest employment growth.
Ipswich City Council’s Economic Development Strategy 2023-2027 set a target of 95,040 jobs by 2027 with the city passing that mark three years early, recording 95,532 jobs in 2024.
Construction added 793 jobs in the space of a year, manufacturing another 516 and transport, postal and warehousing 504.
Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding said the figures demonstrated the city’s economy was continuing to outperform expectations.
“Economically, we continue to punch well above our weight,” Mayor Harding said when the figures were released. “Our region goes from strength to strength, with Ipswich’s GRP now at an alltime high of $15.08 billion.”
Ipswich is one of Queensland’s fastest-growing cities and is expected to undergo enormous expansion over coming decades, creating an economic multiplier far beyond the construction of new homes.
While Ipswich is diversifying, its traditional economic strengths should not be underestimated with manufacturing remaining one of the city’s largest value-adding industries, contributing about $1.6 billion.
Another major shift is occurring in health and education – as the population expands, so does demand for doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, aged care workers, teachers, childcare workers and support staff.
Ipswich’s transformation is about considerably more than crossing a $15 billion milestone, its about what sort of city emerges as hundreds of thousands of new residents arrive and billions of dollars of investment follows them.
Manufacturing, defence and industry remain firmly embedded in its identity, but alongside them is emerging a broader economy built around construction, logistics, healthcare, education, technology, services and a growing small-business sector.
Ipswich is getting bigger and business is booming.
