The economy of Brisbane consists mainly of several industries, including health care, professional services and retail trade.

It holds a population of over 2.4 million people in broader urban centres and localities, with a mean age of 35 years.

[11] Some of the largest companies headquartered in Brisbane, all among Australia's largest, include Suncorp Group, Virgin Australia, Aurizon, Bank of Queensland, Flight Centre, Great Southern Bank, Australian Retirement Trust, Domino's Pizza Enterprises, Star Entertainment Group, ALS, TechnologyOne, NEXTDC, Super Retail Group, New Hope Coal, Jumbo Interactive, National Storage, Collins Foods and Boeing Australia.

Tourism is an important part of the Brisbane economy, both in its own right and as a gateway to other areas of Queensland,[13] as international education, with over 95,000 international students enrolled in universities and other tertiary education institutions in the central Brisbane City Council local government area alone in 2018.

[14] The penal era in Brisbane ended in 1842 and free settlers began to colonise the city, driving the population up to 6000 by 1859.

[15] During World War II, Brisbane experienced another population boom, becoming the headquarters for the South West Pacific campaign.

[17] Medical facilities, workshops and depots necessary for the war effort were erected, creating thousands of jobs and giving rise to significant economic growth.

[28] At this peak, a total of 2.4% of the Australian workforce were employed in the mining industry, with the largest areas of related social, economic and demographic impact occurring in Western Australia and Queensland.

Though the resource boom is slowly declining and starting to negatively affect Brisbane's economic growth, it continues to contribute to the economy's Gross Regional Product.

As Brisbane is home to more than 443,000 people between the ages of 5 and 19 years, it makes sense that one of the city's largest industries is education, with 100,450 employed persons in 2018.

[40] This is outlined in their Economic Development Plan 2012–2031, delineating that there is a strong need for a redirection of resources to improve education facilities and infrastructure across the city.

Suburbs adjacent to the CBD such as Fortitude Valley (particularly James Street), South Brisbane and West End are also a major inner-city retail hubs.

"[41] The plan outlines Brisbane's need to strengthen the city's relationship with Asia, maximise job growth, improve its tourism potential and to develop its digital economy, as outlined by the Lord Mayor of Brisbane (at the time of publication), Graham Quirk.

Numerous international conventions have already been held in Brisbane for this purpose, which contribute more than $200 million to the economy annually.

[42] These include: National and ACTCanberra NSWSydney NTDarwin QLDBrisbane SAAdelaide TASHobart VICMelbourne WAPerth