The highest-margin industry pays its small suppliers slowly
Mining has the highest EBITDA margin of any Australian industry: 41.1% in 2024-25. Yet large mining businesses took a median of 26 days to pay their small business suppliers in July to December 2025, against 23 days across all industries. Only construction, at 29 days, and manufacturing, at 30, were slower. Rental, hiring and real estate runs a margin almost as high, 40.1%, and paid in 19 days.
We are not sure what is going on. The two figures measure different things. The margin covers every business in the industry, and the payment times cover large businesses only. So read them side by side with care.
| Mining | 26 days |
|---|---|
| All industries | 23 days |
| Rental and real estate | 19 days |
Median days large businesses took to pay small suppliers, July to December 2025. Mining has the highest margin of any industry, and rental runs almost as high. Construction and manufacturing paid slower still.
Sources: Payment Times Reporting Register, July to December 2025, © Commonwealth of Australia, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian Industry, 2024-25, CC BY 4.0.
See the figures behind it: How fast large businesses pay small suppliers, by industry, Industry margins in Australia