Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits

Latest release

Counts of actively trading businesses, rates of entry to and exit from the market sector of the economy, and rates of business survival

Reference period
July 2019 - June 2023
Released
22/08/2023
  • Next Release 7/05/2024
    Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits, July 2019 - June 2023
  • Next Release 27/08/2024
    Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits, July 2020 - June 2024
  • View all releases

Key statistics

At 30 June 2023 there were 2,589,873 actively trading businesses in the Australian economy.

In 2022-23 there was a: 

  • 0.8% or 19,973 increase in the number of businesses
  • 15.8% entry rate, with 406,365 entries
  • 15.0% exit rate, with 386,392 exits

Entries and exits

The number of actively trading businesses in this release differs from the total number of entities with an Australian Business Number (ABN).

A table of the conceptual and practical basis of counts is published in the Methodology publication detailing how these counts differ.

Industry

In 2022-23 the three industries with the largest percentage increase in businesses were:

  • Health Care and Social Assistance (increase of 6.1% to 185,260 businesses)
  • Financial and Insurance Services (increase of 2.7% to 123,266 businesses)
  • Transport, Postal and Warehousing (increase of 2.4% to 218,662 businesses)

The industries with the largest percentage decrease in businesses in 2022-23 were:

  • Administrative and Support Services (decrease of 1.6% to 120,630 businesses)
  • Retail Trade (decrease of 1.4% to 155,755 businesses)
     

States and territories

In 2022-23 there was a:

  • 11,031 increase in the number of businesses in Queensland, the largest net increase in any state/territory
  • 7,606 decrease in the number of businesses in Victoria, the only state/territory to decrease

Institutional sector

In 2022-23 there was a:

  • 5.1% (4,659) increase in financial corporations to a total of 96,082 businesses
  • 3.3% (35,095) increase in non-financial corporations to a total of 1,109,777 businesses
  • 1.4% (19,713) decrease in households to a total of 1,381,741 businesses

Households accounted for 53.4% of all businesses, the largest of any institutional sector.

Type of legal organisation

In 2022-23 total companies had the largest net growth of any type of legal organisation, increasing by 42,246 businesses, or 4.0% to 1,094,465 total. This was driven by births of total companies, with 137,164 entries.

There was also a:

  • 3.8% (8,790) decrease in partnerships to 223,048 total
  • 1.7% (42,246) decrease in sole proprietors to 784,744 total

Employment size

In 2022-23 the number of non-employing businesses increased by 2.3% (35,542), with a net movement of 35,509 surviving businesses from employing to non-employing.

There was also a:

  • 8.8% (5,204) increase in businesses with 20-199 employees to 64,559 total
  • 8.0% (362) increase in businesses with 200+ employees to 4,895 total
  • 3.5% (25,292) decrease in businesses with 1-4 employees to 703,467 total
     

Turnover size

In 2022-23:

  • 91.9% of businesses had turnover of less than $2 million
  • 24.7% of businesses had turnover of less than $50,000
  • Businesses with turnover of $2m or more increased by 9.7% (18,480 businesses)
  • There was a large net movement of surviving businesses into the upper turnover size ranges, with surviving businesses having a turnover at or above $200,000, increasing by 53,271
  • The $10 million or more turnover size range showed the largest percentage change, increasing by 11.9%, driven largely by the movement of 7,017 businesses out of the $5m to less than $10m turnover size range

Interactive map

Interactive map - Count of Australian businesses including entries and exits, July 2019 ­– June 2023

How to use
  • Use the headings under the main title to navigate to a topic and then use the buttons on the left to view different subsets of the data. 
  • If viewing on a mobile device or small screen the buttons to switch between data subsets may move to below the map. 
  • Click on a region of interest to view data about that region.
  • To search, click on the magnifying glass to open the search function. You can search for addresses, suburbs, and postcodes. 
Geographic areas

The boundaries used in the interactive map are:

  • Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2) 2021, ASGS Edition 3 Main Structure boundaries according to the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 3
  • Local Government Area (LGA) 2021, ASGS Edition 3 Non-ABS Structures boundaries according to the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS): July 2023
Map data

The data displayed in the interactive map can be accessed from the Data downloads section below.

Quarterly experimental counts

In the December quarter 2023 there was a:

  • 0.2%, or 6,324 decrease in the number of businesses
  • 5.0% entry rate, with 131,616 entries
  • 5.3% exit rate, with 137,940 exits
  • 0.8% (12,837) increase in non-employing businesses and 1.9% (19,161) decrease in total employing businesses

For more information on the methodological differences between the quarterly and annual counts, see the Technical note.

Industry subdivision

In the December quarter 2023, the subdivisions with the largest quarterly net increase in businesses were:

  • Postal and Courier Pick-up and Delivery Services (2,645 businesses or 5.0%)
  • Social Assistance Services (1,301 businesses or 4.1%)

The subdivisions with the largest quarterly net decrease in businesses were:

  • Agriculture (2,157 businesses or 1.5%)
  • Construction Services (1,937 businesses or 0.6%)
  • Other Store-Based Retailing (1,173 businesses or 1.4%)

Seasonally adjusted data

There is a strong seasonal pattern in the counts of Total Businesses, Business Entries and Business Exits. To assist in distinguishing between short-term trends and the seasonal patterns, seasonally adjusted counts have been prepared for these headline figures. For more information, see the Methodology.

In the December 2023 quarter, in seasonally adjusted terms, there was a:

  • 1.1%, or 28,198, increase in the number of businesses
  • 5.1% entry rate, with 133,560 entries
  • 4.1% exit rate, with 105,362 exits
Count of businesses, entries and exits, September 2023 and December 2023, Australia
Sep-23Change (%)Dec-23Change (%)
Original
Total Businesses2,618,0121.12,611,688-0.2
Business Entries142,3105.5131,6165
Business Exits114,1714.4137,9405.3
Seasonally Adjusted
Total Businesses2,600,4890.62,626,6951.1
Business Entries128,7144.9133,5605.1
Business Exits111,3394.3105,3624.1

Trend estimates are not calculated for these series as they require the irregular component to be accounted for and this cannot be accurately estimated.

Data downloads

Annual data cubes

Data cube 1 tables 1-16 are released in August.

Data cube 1 tables 17-20 and data cubes 2-11 are released in December.

Data files

Quarterly data cubes

Quarterly and seasonally adjusted data is released in February, May, August and December.

Data files

Post-release changes

13 February 2024 - December 2023 quarterly data are being released today.

19 December 2023 - Datacube 9 was re-released to correct an error. This error was exclusive to this datacube. No other datacubes have been affected.

18 December 2023 - Datacubes 2-11 and tables 17-20 in datacube 1 as well as September 2023 quarterly data are being released today.

Methodology

Scope

All actively trading businesses in the Australian market sector

Excluding:

  • Reserve Bank of Australia
  • General Government
  • Non-Profit Institutions Serving Households

Geography

Data available for:

  • Australia
  • States and Territories
  • Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2)
  • Local Government Area (LGA)

Source

Australian Bureau of Statistics Business Register (ABSBR)

Collection method

Administrative data collected quarterly or annually for Australian Business Number (ABN) registrations recorded in the Australian Business Register (ABR), and business data from the Australian Tax Office (ATO)

History of changes

Since the 2020-21 release, ANZSIC class 6330 (superannuation funds) has been removed from scope

Full history of changes

View full methodology
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