How many Australian businesses stop trading each year
Across all industries, 13.8% of businesses stopped trading in 2025-26, against 13.0% in 2018-19.
This page shows the share of businesses in each industry that stopped trading each year. The figures come from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which counts every business with an active ABN.
An exit is a business that stopped actively trading in the year. It may have closed, been sold, merged or wound down. Few exits are insolvencies, and this page does not count insolvencies.
More than half the businesses counted have no employees.
- Exit rate is the businesses that stopped trading in the year, as a share of those trading at its start.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits (8165.0). Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Rates are onestepright's arithmetic on the ABS counts.
| Industry | Exit rate (%) | Entry rate (%) | Net change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transport, postal and warehousing | 21.7 | 26.5 | 4.9 |
| Administrative and support services | 17.7 | 20.3 | 2.6 |
| Public administration and safety | 17.6 | 19.4 | 1.8 |
| Accommodation and food services | 15.7 | 17.1 | 1.3 |
| Retail trade | 15.7 | 15.7 | 0.1 |
| Technology, software, media and telecommunications | 14.7 | 18.6 | 4.0 |
| Construction | 14.6 | 17.9 | 3.4 |
| Arts and recreation | 14.3 | 18.1 | 3.8 |
| Other services | 14.0 | 17.1 | 3.1 |
| Education and training | 13.8 | 16.5 | 2.8 |
| Professional, scientific and technical services | 13.5 | 17.2 | 3.6 |
| Electricity, gas, water and waste | 13.3 | 16.5 | 3.2 |
| Wholesale trade | 13.1 | 13.6 | 0.5 |
| Financial and insurance services | 12.4 | 16.7 | 4.3 |
| Manufacturing | 12.3 | 12.5 | 0.2 |
| Mining | 10.9 | 12.0 | 1.1 |
| Health care and social assistance | 10.7 | 17.4 | 6.7 |
| Rental, hiring and real estate | 9.4 | 13.1 | 3.7 |
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 7.9 | 7.4 | -0.5 |
| All industries | 13.8 | 16.9 | 3.1 |
Each figure is a share of the businesses trading at the start of the year.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits (8165.0). Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Rates are onestepright's arithmetic on the ABS counts.
How many businesses are still trading four years on
Of the businesses trading in June 2022, 62% were still trading four years later. For those trading in June 2017, it was 65%.
New businesses are measured separately. Of those that started trading in 2022-23, 49.2% were still trading three years later.
A business counts as trading while its ABN is active and it lodges GST. A business sold to an owner who trades under a new ABN usually shows as a closure and a new business. So these figures can understate how many businesses carry on.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits (8165.0). Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Shares as the ABS publishes them.
| Trading in June | Still trading four years later (%) |
|---|---|
| June 2017 | 64.9 |
| June 2018 | 65.0 |
| June 2019 | 64.5 |
| June 2020 | 64.1 |
| June 2021 | 63.1 |
| June 2022 | 61.9 |
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits (8165.0). Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Shares as the ABS publishes them.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits (8165.0). Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Shares as the ABS publishes them.
| Employees | Still trading four years later (%) |
|---|---|
| No employees | 55.3 |
| 1 to 4 employees | 68.6 |
| 5 to 19 employees | 77.9 |
| 20 to 199 employees | 85.1 |
| 200 or more employees | 89.3 |
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits (8165.0). Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Shares as the ABS publishes them.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits (8165.0). Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Shares as the ABS publishes them.
| Industry | Still trading four years later (%) |
|---|---|
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 74.5 |
| Rental, hiring and real estate | 72.5 |
| Mining | 70.4 |
| Health care and social assistance | 70.2 |
| Financial and insurance services | 65.9 |
| Manufacturing | 65.1 |
| Electricity, gas, water and waste | 64.4 |
| Wholesale trade | 63.2 |
| Professional, scientific and technical services | 61.8 |
| Education and training | 60.3 |
| Construction | 59.6 |
| Other services | 58.7 |
| Technology, software, media and telecommunications | 58.0 |
| Arts and recreation | 57.8 |
| Retail trade | 56.5 |
| Public administration and safety | 55.0 |
| Accommodation and food services | 53.7 |
| Administrative and support services | 52.7 |
| Transport, postal and warehousing | 47.3 |
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits (8165.0). Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Shares as the ABS publishes them.
Exit rate over time, Construction
Of construction businesses trading in June 2022, 60% were still trading four years later, against 62% across all industries.
See everything we hold on construction.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits (8165.0). Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Rates are onestepright's arithmetic on the ABS counts.
| Year | Construction (%) | All industries (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 14.2 | 13.0 |
| 2019-20 | 14.3 | 12.8 |
| 2020-21 | 12.8 | 12.0 |
| 2021-22 | 13.6 | 12.7 |
| 2022-23 | 14.8 | 14.0 |
| 2023-24 | 15.2 | 14.0 |
| 2024-25 | 14.7 | 13.9 |
| 2025-26 | 14.6 | 13.8 |
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits (8165.0). Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Rates are onestepright's arithmetic on the ABS counts.
Figures to 2025-26. They change when the ABS publishes a new year.
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