We’ve pulled together a list of key Australian Business Facts from the Australian Bureau of Statistics report from 2018.
- 96% of all business in Australia is
small business – it is the engine room of our economy. - In the 2018 financial year, 22,018 Australian businesses became insolvent. The main reasons for insolvency were: inadequate cash flow, poor strategic management and trading losses.
- Small businesses employ over 4.5 million people, which represents more than half the Australian workforce.
- The A.T.O. found that 65% of small businesses found that managing cash flow was their biggest concern.
- Poor cash flow and management of cash flow are the main causes of outstanding taxation debt.
- in 2018 16% of businesses sought debt or equity finance. Of these, 89% obtained finance.
- in 2018 Businesses reported the main reason for seeking debt or equity finance was to maintain short term cash flow or liquidity (41%), followed by finance sought to replace other equipment or machinery (30%).
- Business use of IT: Over half of
innovation-active businesses reported a social media presence (59%), compared to less than a quarter of non-innovation active businesses (26%). - More than two in five businesses (42%) monitored KPIs, with 79% of these businesses focussing on financial measures which included profit, sales, market share and return on investment. More than twice the proportion of innovation-active businesses monitored KPIs than
businesses (57% compared to 26% of businesses).non innovation-active - Two in ten businesses (20%) were significantly affected by environmental factors. The Agriculture, forestry and fishing industry recorded the highest proportion of businesses that were affected by natural disasters (35%) and high or increased resource costs (21%).
- More than a third of all businesses reported that their Principal Manager had completed a bachelor degree or higher (34%) and had management/business specialist skills (38%) in addition to their formal qualification.
- Four out of every five Australian businesses reported a male Principal Manager (80%). By industry, the highest proportions of male Principal Managers were recorded in the Construction (95%), and Mining (94%) industries. The Health care and social assistance industry recorded the highest proportion of businesses with a female Principal Manager (44%).
- The most commonly reported age range of Principal Managers in Australian businesses was 50 to 59 years old (30%). The most commonly reported age range for innovation-active businesses was 40 to 49 years old (29%).
- 30% of business owners in South Australia are over the age of 65 compared to the national average of 22%