Small Business Statistics

Australian Bureau of Statistics information

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) provides access to statistics about Australians, their industry, trade, activities and culture.  Since 1 July 2005, electronic copies of ABS publications and related statistical tables have been free to any member of the public with Internet access.

The following free publications about small business produced by the ABS can now be downloaded directly from the 'Australian Bureau of Statistics' website (see the External Links box on this page):

Small business in Victoria

A vibrant small business sector is essential to job growth and economic well-being in Victoria, particularly in rural and regional Victoria.  Key features of the Victorian small business sector include:

Number of small businesses

As at June 2007, there were approximately 482,883 small businesses in Victoria, representing 25% of the national total, or 96% of all businesses in Victoria. The top five sectors with the greatest number of small businesses are:

• property and business services (25.8% of the total)
• construction (15.9%)
• retail (10.8%)
• agriculture, forestry and fishing (10.1%)
• finance and insurance (7.3%)

Growth rate

• an average annual growth of 2.7% when compared with June 2006

Number of rural and regional businesses

• 28.4% of all small businesses in Victoria are regionally-based
• rural and regional small businesses comprise by far the largest proportion of businesses in regional Victoria, contributing to social cohesion and export growth

Small business demographics

• nearly 62% of small business operators are home-based; growing at 3% per year since 2001
• nearly 32% of small business operators in Victoria are women
• nearly 29% of Victoria’s small business operators are born overseas

Number of employees

• 61% of Victoria’s small businesses do not employ anyone
• 27% of Victoria’s small businesses have 1-4 employees
• 12% of Victoria’s small businesses have 5-19 employees

Business exit and entry rates

• the small business exit rate in Victoria in 2006-07 was 14.3%, lower than the national average of 15.0% and the third lowest among all states and territories, after Tasmania (13.0%) and South Australia (13.3%)
• Victoria’s business entry rate in 2006-07 was 17.0%, slightly below the national average of 17.6%

Export

• there were 3,550 small merchandise exporters in Victoria in 2006-07, compared with 4,761 in New South Wales and 2,376 in Queensland 
• Victoria's 27.2% share of the national total of small merchandise exporters is above Victoria’s 25% share of the national population

Innovation

• according to the ABS 2005 Innovation Survey, 29% of the 25,550 Victorian small businesses surveyed are regarded as "innovating businesses" This was higher than the national average (28%) and the third highest among all states and territories, after South Australia (36%) and Western Australia (30%)