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 2020 - June 2024
Released
27/08/2024
  • Next Release 17/12/2024
    Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits, July 2020 - June 2024
  • Next Release 11/02/2025
    Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits, July 2020 - June 2024
  • Next Release 8/05/2025
    Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits, July 2020 - June 2024
  • View all releases

Key statistics

At 30 June 2024 there were 2,662,998 actively trading businesses in the Australian economy.

In 2023-24 there was a: 

  • 2.8% or 73,125 increase in the number of businesses
  • 16.8% entry rate, with 436,018 entries
  • 14.0% exit rate, with 362,893 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 2023-24 the three industries with the largest percentage increase in businesses were:

  • Transport, Postal and Warehousing (increase of 8.5% to 237,506 businesses)
  • Health Care and Social Assistance (increase of 7.7% to 199,763 businesses)
  • Financial and Insurance Services (increase of 4.8% to 129,031 businesses)

The industries with the largest percentage decrease in businesses in 2023-24 were:

  • Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing (decrease of 1.3% to 172,248 businesses)
  • Retail Trade (decrease of 0.2% to 156,938 businesses)
     

States and territories

In 2023-24 there was a:

  • 25,569 increase in the number of businesses in New South Wales, the largest net increase in any state/territory
  • 18,641 increase in the number of businesses in Victoria
  • 1,217 increase in Australian Capital Territory, and 8,718 increase in Western Australia, with both having the largest percentage increase at 3.5%

All states and territories showed a growth in business counts.

Institutional sector

In 2023-24 there was a:

  • 7.3% (7,033) increase in financial corporations to a total of 103,090 businesses
  • 4.3% (50,901) increase in non-financial corporations to a total of 1,230,472 businesses
  • 1.2% (15,370) increase in households to a total of 1,327,734 businesses

Households accounted for 49.9% of all businesses, the largest of any institutional sector.

Type of legal organisation

In 2023-24 total companies showed the largest net growth among types of legal organisations, showing a 5.4% (58,688) increase to 1,153,149 businesses in total, with 185,819 entries.

There was also a:

  • 4.1% (9,130) decrease in partnerships to 213,919 total
  • 2.4% (18,941) increase in sole proprietors to 803,687 total

Employment size

In 2023-24 the number of non-employing businesses increased by 4.9% (78,144), with a net movement of 33,783 surviving businesses from employing to non-employing.

There was also a:

  • 5.7% (3,655) increase in businesses with 20-199 employees to 68,214 total
  • 6.0% (294) increase in businesses with 200+ employees to 5,189 total
  • 1.4% (9,909) decrease in businesses with 1-4 employees to 693,558 total
     

Quarterly experimental counts

In the June quarter 2024 there was a:

  • 1.0%, or 25,094 increase in the number of businesses
  • 4.9% entry rate, with 130,046 entries
  • 4.0% exit rate, with 104,952 exits
  • 1.4% (22,777) increase in non-employing businesses and 0.2% (2,317) increase in employing businesses

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

Industry subdivision

In the June quarter 2024, the subdivisions with the largest quarterly net increase in businesses were:

  • Property Operators and Real Estate Services (4,028 businesses or 1.5%)
  • Professional, Scientific and Technical Services (Except Computer System Design and Related Services) (3,408 businesses or 1.2%)

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

  • Machinery and Equipment Wholesaling (269 businesses or 1.8%)
  • Other Goods Wholesaling (141 businesses or 0.8%)
  • Road Transport (122 businesses or 0.1%)

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 June 2024 quarter, in seasonally adjusted terms, there was a:

  • 0.4%, or 9,194, increase in the number of businesses
  • 4.9% entry rate, with 131,069 entries
  • 4.8% exit rate, with 126,599 exits
Count of businesses, entries and exits, December 2023 and June 2024, Australia
Mar-24Change (%)Jun-24Change (%)
Original
Total Businesses2,637,11712,662,2111
Business Entries110,3684.2130,0464.9
Business Exits84,3513.2104,9524
Seasonally Adjusted
Total Businesses2,647,1500.92,656,3440.4
Business Entries124,0544.7131,0694.9
Business Exits100,2213.8126,5994.8

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 cube 1: Tables 1-16 of counts of Australian businesses, including entries and exits

Quarterly data cubes

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

Data files

Post-release changes

13 September 2024 - Data cube 1 re-released to correct an error.  This error was exclusive to tables 13b and 14b in this data cube. No other data cubes have been affected.

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

The total counts of businesses for the 2021-22 financial year have been revised

Full history of changes

View full methodology
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