Arts and recreation turnover falls again in November

Media Release
Released
20/01/2023

Arts and recreation services recorded the largest percentage fall in business turnover in November (-6.6 per cent), after dropping 3.2 per cent in October, according to monthly figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Sybille McKeown, ABS head of industry statistics, said that after through-the-year growth peaked at 52.9 per cent in September 2022, turnover for the Arts and recreation services industry cooled to a 19.3 per cent increase through the year to November 2022.

“The positive impact from the relaxing of COVID-19 Delta lockdowns towards the end of 2021 has been replaced with declining 'discretionary' spending in the face of rising interest rates and inflation,” Ms McKeown said.

Electricity, gas, water and waste services also had a notable percentage decline (-4.4 per cent), as wholesale electricity prices in the National Electricity Market continue to fall from recent highs.

The ‘Other services’ industry led the rises, up 9.1 per cent, driven by repair and maintenance businesses, followed by Retail trade (+2.9 per cent) and Mining (+1.2 per cent).

Business turnover decreased in eight of the 13 selected industries in November 2022. This is the first time that most of the industries experienced a monthly fall in turnover since January 2022.

All industries recorded year-on-year increases in business turnover, led by Mining (+37.4 per cent), Transport, postal and warehousing (+28.3 per cent) and Electricity, gas, water and waste services (+24.0 per cent).

 

More detailed analysis and information on the methodology is available in Monthly Business Turnover Indicator.

Media notes

  • All figures in this media release are in seasonally adjusted terms.
  • The Monthly Business Turnover Indicator is derived using Australian Taxation Office (ATO) Business Activity Statement (BAS) data from monthly remitters.
  • Monthly BAS reporting covers businesses with GST annual turnover of $20 million or more and a proportion of smaller businesses that report on a voluntary basis.
  • The indicator includes 13 of the 19 industry divisions classified according to the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC), 2006, and provides timely and frequent insights into economic activity, which complement the longstanding quarterly measures.
  • When reporting ABS data you must attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) as the source.
  • For media requests and interviews, contact the ABS Media Team via media@abs.gov.au (8.30am-5pm Mon-Fri).
  • Subscribe to our media release notification service to get notified of ABS media releases or publications upon their release.
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