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 2022 - June 2026

Released

18/08/2026

Next release 18/12/2026

Release date and time

18/08/2026 11:30am AEST

Key statistics

At 30 June 2026 there were 2,814,778 actively trading businesses in the Australian economy, with 996,203 of these businesses being employing.

In 2025-26 there was a:

3.1% or 85,130 increase in the number of businesses
16.9% entry rate, with 460,461 entries
13.8% exit rate, with 375,331 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.

Business entries and exits, 2022-23 to 2025-26, Australia
	Entries	Exits	Net change
2022-23	406,365	-356,216	50,149
2023-24	436,018	-362,893	73,125
2024-25	437,150	-370,500	66,650
2025-26	460,461	-375,331	85,130

Business entries and exits, 2022-23 to 2025-26, Australia

["","Entries","Exits","Net change"]

[["2022-23","2023-24","2024-25","2025-26"],[[406365],[436018],[437150],[460461]],[[-356216],[-362893],[-370500],[-375331]],[[50149],[73125],[66650],[85130]]]

[]

[{"value":"0","axis_id":"0","axis_title":"","axis_units":"","tooltip_units":"","table_units":"","axis_min":null,"axis_max":null,"tick_interval":null,"precision":"-1","data_unit_prefix":"","data_unit_suffix":"","reverse_axis":false}]

[{"value":"0","axis_id":"0","axis_title":"No. of Businesses","axis_units":"","tooltip_units":"","table_units":"","axis_min":null,"axis_max":null,"tick_interval":null,"precision":"-1","data_unit_prefix":"","data_unit_suffix":"","reverse_axis":false}]

Industry

In 2025-26 the three industries with the largest percentage increase in businesses were:

Health Care and Social Assistance (increase of 6.7% to 227,702 businesses)
Transport, Postal and Warehousing (increase of 4.9% to 261,109 businesses)
Financial and Insurance Services (increase of 4.3% to 139,417 businesses)

The only industry with a decrease in businesses in 2025-26 was:

Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing (decrease of 0.5% to 170,185 businesses)

Annual percent change in businesses by industry division, 2025-26
	Annual percent change
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing	-0.5
Mining	1.1
Manufacturing	0.2
Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste Services	3.2
Construction	3.4
Wholesale Trade	0.5
Retail Trade	0.1
Accommodation and Food Services	1.3
Transport, Postal and Warehousing	4.9
Information Media and Telecommunications	4
Financial and Insurance Services	4.3
Rental, Hiring and Real Estate Services	3.7
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services	3.6
Administrative and Support Services	2.6
Public Administration and Safety	1.8
Education and Training	2.8
Health Care and Social Assistance	6.7
Arts and Recreation Services	3.8
Other Services	3.1

Annual percent change in businesses by industry division, 2025-26

["","Annual percent change"]

[["Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing","Mining","Manufacturing","Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste Services","Construction","Wholesale Trade","Retail Trade","Accommodation and Food Services","Transport, Postal and Warehousing","Information Media and Telecommunications","Financial and Insurance Services","Rental, Hiring and Real Estate Services","Professional, Scientific and Technical Services","Administrative and Support Services","Public Administration and Safety","Education and Training","Health Care and Social Assistance","Arts and Recreation Services","Other Services"],[[-0.5],[1.1],[0.2],[3.2],[3.4],[0.5],[0.1],[1.3],[4.9],[4],[4.3],[3.7],[3.6],[2.6],[1.8],[2.8],[6.7],[3.8],[3.1]]]

[]

[{"value":"0","axis_id":"0","axis_title":"","axis_units":"","tooltip_units":"","table_units":"","axis_min":null,"axis_max":null,"tick_interval":null,"precision":"-1","data_unit_prefix":"","data_unit_suffix":"","reverse_axis":false}]

[{"axis_id":"0","tick_interval":"","axis_min":"","axis_max":"","axis_title":"","precision":"","table_units":"","tooltip_units":"","axis_units":"","data_unit_prefix":"","data_unit_suffix":"","reverse_axis":false}]

States and territories

In 2025-26 there was a:

26,057 increase in the number of businesses in New South Wales, the largest net increase in any state/territory
19,581 increase in the number of businesses in Victoria
19,244 increase in the number of businesses in Queensland
12,248 increase in Western Australia, having the largest percentage increase at 4.6%

All states and territories showed a growth in business counts.

Institutional sector

In 2025-26 there was a:

6.0% (6,564) increase in financial corporations to a total of 115,326 businesses
4.0% (52,886) increase in non-financial corporations to a total of 1,361,249 businesses
2.0% (25,670) increase in households to a total of 1,336,701 businesses

Non-financial corporations accounted for 48.4% of all businesses, the largest of any institutional sector.

Type of legal organisation

In 2025-26 total companies showed the largest net growth among types of legal organisations, showing a 5.2% (63,373) increase to 1,271,197 businesses in total, with 205,319 entries.

There was also a:

4.2% (-8,682) decrease in partnerships to 196,015 total
3.1% (25,427) increase in sole proprietors to 848,300 total

Employment size

In 2025-26 the number of non-employing businesses increased by 4.8% (83,105), with a net movement of 28,127 surviving businesses from employing to non-employing. The number of employing businesses increased by 0.2% (2,025). This is the first net increase in total employing businesses since 2021-22

There was also a:

0.8% (44) increase in businesses with 200+ employees to 5,366 total
0.7% (468) increase in businesses with 20-199 employees to 68,325 total
0.3% (783) increase in businesses with 5-19 employees to 232,912 total
0.1% (730) increase in businesses with 1-4 employees to 689,600 total

Annual percent change in businesses by employment size range, 2025-26
	Annual percent change
Non–employing	4.8
1–4 employees	0.1
5–19 employees	0.3
20–199 employees	0.7
200+ employees	0.8

Annual percent change in businesses by employment size range, 2025-26

["","Annual percent change"]

[["Non\u2013employing","1\u20134 employees","5\u201319 employees","20\u2013199 employees","200+ employees"],[[4.8],[0.1],[0.3],[0.7],[0.8]]]

[]

[{"value":"0","axis_id":"0","axis_title":"","axis_units":"","tooltip_units":"","table_units":"","axis_min":null,"axis_max":null,"tick_interval":null,"precision":"-1","data_unit_prefix":"","data_unit_suffix":"","reverse_axis":false}]

[{"axis_id":"0","tick_interval":"","axis_min":"","axis_max":"","axis_title":"","precision":"","table_units":"","tooltip_units":"","axis_units":"","data_unit_prefix":"","data_unit_suffix":"","reverse_axis":false}]

Data downloads

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

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

Download xlsx [130.56 KB]

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

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)

Concepts, sources and methods

Classifications used to compile the data:

History of changes

Full history of changes

View full methodology

Do you need more detailed statistics?

Request data

We can provide customised data to meet your requirements

Request a quote

Microdata and TableBuilder

We can provide access to detailed, customisable data on selected topics

View available Microdata and TableBuilder

APA

Citation

Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits

APA

Citation

Key statistics

Entries and exits

Industry

States and territories

Institutional sector

Type of legal organisation

Employment size

Data downloads

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

Methodology

Scope

Geography

Source

Collection method

Concepts, sources and methods

History of changes

Do you need more detailed statistics?

Request data

Microdata and TableBuilder

Provide feedback