ECONOMIC ACTIVITY SURVEY (QUARTERLY)
PURPOSE
To collect quarterly data from businesses regarding their income from sales of goods and services; wages and salaries; company profits; and inventories. These businesses include those involved in the fields of culture and leisure.
DESCRIPTION
The Quarterly Economic Activity Survey was first conducted in respect of the September quarter 2001. Its scope is all private businesses listed on the ABS business register except those classified to ANZSIC Division A Agriculture, forestry and fishing, and a small number of other industries. The survey is conducted by mail-out questionnaire sent to a random sample of approximately 16,000 business units stratified by industry, State/Territory, and number of employees. All units with more than 250 employees are automatically included in the sample.
GEOGRAPHIC COVERAGE
Australia
FREQUENCY OF COLLECTION
Quarterly
DATA ITEMS
Income
The items which make up the income of businesses include:
Sales of goods and services
Interest
Dividends
Other income items
Expenses
The items which make up the expenses of businesses include:
Wages and salaries
Employer contributions to superannuation
Workers' compensation costs
Other expense items
Company profits before income tax
The net operating profit or loss made by the business before income tax and extraordinary items. This data item is only available for incorporated businesses with 20 or more employees.
Company gross operating profits
Company profits before income tax with selected items removed to provide a measure of underlying company profits. The income and expense items removed from the calculation of profits are those which do not involve the production of goods and services.
Inventories
The items which make up the inventories of businesses are:
Materials, fuels, etc.
Work in progress
Finished goods
Industry
The main activity undertaken by the business, to the 2-digit (sub-division) level of the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC). See Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification, 1993 Edition (Cat. no. 1292.0). See ANZSIC codes related to culture and leisure for details of ANZSIC sub-divisions relevant to the fields of culture and leisure.
Geographic area
Most data are only available for Australia. However, data about Sales of goods and services, and Wages and salaries are also available for States and Territories.
HISTORICAL DATA
The collection was conducted for the first time in respect of the September quarter 2001. However, it has replaced two quarterly surveys of long standing - the Survey of Inventories, Sales and Services, and the Survey of Company Profits - and, since the March quarter 2002, has replaced the private sector component of the Survey of Employment and Earnings.
DISSEMINATION
Publications
Australian Bureau of Statistics, Business Indicators, Australia, Cat. no. 5676.0, ABS, Canberra. Released quarterly.
CONTACT
In the first instance, refer to To obtain data or further information in the Introduction to this directory.
Manager
Quarterly Economy Wide Surveys
Australian Bureau of Statistics
GPO Box 796
SYDNEY NSW 2001
Telephone: Sydney 02 9268 4241
Facsimile: Sydney 02 9268 4101
Email: client.services@abs.gov.au
Print Page