March business turnover steady
Business turnover in trend terms fell 0.1 per cent in March according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Robert Ewing, ABS head of business statistics, said: “In trend terms, the 13-industry aggregate measure of business turnover has been flat since October 2023.
“In seasonally adjusted terms the 13-industry aggregate increased only slightly, rising 0.3 per cent in March.
“The strongest rises were from the Information media and telecommunications industry, up 3.7 per cent, Manufacturing with a rise of 3.6 per cent, and Mining, which grew 1.6 per cent.”
The rise in Information media and telecommunications turnover was driven by subscription revenue in the Publishing (except internet and music publishing) subdivision.
The largest fall in turnover was in the Transport, postal and warehousing industry partially reversing a large rise in February.
Compared to March 2023, turnover was higher for 11 of the 13 industries included in the indicator.
The industries that saw the biggest annual rises were Electricity, gas, water and waste services (10.9 per cent), Construction (8.1 per cent), and Information media and telecommunications (6.4 per cent).
Mining had the largest annual fall (-17.1 per cent) which offset the rises from other industries.
Media notes
- 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.
- The extra leap year day in 2024 is unlikely to impact seasonally adjusted statistics released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) for February 2024 and March quarter 2024. This is because the impact of an additional leap year day is analysed as part of the seasonal adjustment process, which includes the impact of trading days. The impact of the extra leap year day will be evident in the original (non-seasonally adjusted) series. For further information please refer to this note.
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