Monthly Business Turnover Indicator

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Experimental indicator of business turnover derived from monthly Business Activity Statements

Reference period
May 2022
Released
8/07/2022

Key statistics

In seasonally adjusted terms, the monthly business turnover indicator showed:

  • Rises in 11 of the 13 published industries in May 2022
  • The largest increase was in Electricity, gas, water and waste services (22.9%)
  • The largest fall was in Arts and recreation services (-2.3%)
  • Through the year, the largest rises were recorded in Mining (36.4%) followed by Transport, postal and warehousing (31.4%)
  • This experimental indicator is derived from Australian Taxation Office (ATO) Business Activity Statements (BAS) turnover data from monthly BAS remitters. It includes 13 of the 19 industry divisions classified according to the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC), 2006.
  • Monthly BAS reporting covers businesses with GST annual turnover of $20 million or more and a proportion of smaller businesses that report monthly on a voluntary basis.
  • The estimated monthly changes in business turnover are aligned as closely as is feasible to the Australian System of National Accounts concept of market output. Users should exercise caution in comparing the indicator to other ABS economic outputs due to differences in concepts, scope, coverage, and methods. 
  • Estimates in this release are subject to revisions. 

Industry

Total turnover differs between industries. This should be considered when analysing month-to-month movements in the context of overall economic activity. The chart below shows the monthly movements in the turnover indicator for May 2022 (represented by colour) and the selected industries' estimated share of total turnover for the 2020-21 financial year (represented by circle size). 

Chart showing the monthly movements in the turnover indicator for May 2022 (represented by colour) and the selected industries' estimated share of total turnover for the 2020-21 financial year (represented by circle size).
The chart has 13 circles, one for each industry division included in the Monthly Business Turnover Indicator. The size of each circle represents the share of total business turnover for the 2020-21 financial year for that industry. Circles are also given a colour shading to represent the monthly change in the Monthly Business Turnover Indicator for the current reference month. Industries with negative movements are coloured orange, those with little or no movement are grey, and positive movements are blue. The largest circles are for Wholesale trade, Retail trade, Manufacturing, Construction, and Mining. Electricity, gas, water and waste services is a strong blue, showing a strong positive movement in business turnover. Arts and recreation services is orange, showing a negative movement in business turnover.

Business turnover differs from the National Accounts concept of output. For example, the value of goods sold by wholesalers and subsequently retailers are reflected in turnover for both industries while National Accounts output measures the margins gained by each industry.

Industry analysis and charts

In May 2022, 11 of the 13 industry divisions included in the indicator showed increases in turnover. The largest rise in monthly turnover was seen in Electricity, gas, water and waste services (22.9%). The increase comes as energy supply issues impact the industry, including rising input costs and plant outages. The next largest rises were seen in Manufacturing and Construction, with turnover for both industries rising by 5.1%. 

Two industries showed falls in May 2022. The largest fall was in Arts and recreation services (-2.3%) which fell following three consecutive rises. The Professional, scientific and technical services division fell for the second consecutive month (-0.9%).

The largest rises through the year were recorded in Mining (36.4%), followed by Transport, postal and warehousing (31.4%).

Mining

Index base period: July 2019 = 100.0.

Manufacturing

Index base period: July 2019 = 100.0.

Electricity, gas, water and waste services

Index base period: July 2019 = 100.0.

Construction

Index base period: July 2019 = 100.0.

Wholesale trade

Index base period: July 2019 = 100.0.

Retail trade

Index base period: July 2019 = 100.0.

Accommodation and food services

Index base period: July 2019 = 100.0.

Transport, postal and warehousing

Index base period: July 2019 = 100.0.

Information media and telecommunications

Index base period: July 2019 = 100.0.

Professional, scientific and technical services

Index base period: July 2019 = 100.0.

Administrative and support services

Index base period: July 2019 = 100.0.

Arts and recreation services

Index base period: July 2019 = 100.0.

Other services

Index base period: July 2019 = 100.0.

Data downloads

Time series spreadsheets

Data files

Data Explorer datasets

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For more information about Data Explorer, see the Data Explorer user guide.

Business Turnover Indicator - Monthly percentage changes and indexes, January 2010 onwards

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