Business indicators

Seasonally adjusted, current price estimates for:

• Company gross operating profits rose 5.9%
• Wages and salaries rose 1.4%

Seasonally adjusted, chain volume estimate for:

• Inventories rose 0.1%

• Total new capital expenditure fell by 0.2%
• Buildings and structures rose by 0.2%
• Equipment, plant and machinery fell by 0.8%
• Estimate 1 for 2025-26 is $148.0b. This is 1.8% higher than Estimate 1 for 2024-25

In seasonally adjusted terms, the March 2025 monthly business turnover indicator showed: 

• Rises in eight industries, resulting in a 0.4% increase in the 13-industry aggregate
• The largest rise was in Wholesale trade (+2.2%)
• The largest falls were in Electricity, gas, water and waste services (-4.1%) and Transport, postal and warehousing (-3.9%)

The 13-industry aggregate grew 0.5% in trend terms for the month of March.

At 30 June 2024 there were 2,662,998 actively trading businesses in the Australian economy, with 999,161 of these businesses being employing.

In 2023-24 there was a: 

• 2.8% or 73,125 increase in the number of businesses
• 16.8% entry rate, with 436,018 entries
• 14.0% exit rate, with 362,893 exits

• Almost a third of employing businesses (31%) are having difficulty finding suitable staff.
• Nearly half (46%) of all businesses experienced increases in their operating expenses.
• More than two in five businesses (41%) faced supply chain disruptions. This has remained steady since it peaked in January 2022 (47%).

Describes economic measurement within Balance of Payments and International Investment Position, Government Finance Statistics and National Accounts

This release contains summary management and organisational capabilities data for Australian businesses

Business characteristics statistics summary for five growth sectors as collected by the 2013-14 Business Characteristics Survey (BCS)