Construction: how the industry looks
This page gathers the figures we hold on construction. Each section names its own source.
Each source groups industries its own way, so the edges of construction differ a little from section to section.
- Median sale multiple6.0times EBITDA
- EBITDA margin10.1%share of sales, 2024-25
- Still trading after four years59.6%of businesses trading in June 2022
- Days to pay small suppliers29July to December 2025
- Wage change+3.3%the year to June 2026
What stands out
- In 2024-25, EBITDA was 10.1% of sales across the industry and 14.7% across all industries the ABS covers.
- In July to December 2025, the typical large business paid small suppliers in 29 days in the industry and 23 days across all industries.
- The industry's share of deals in our database rose from 2.4% in 2015-19 to 3.5% in 2020-26.
Where a line gives a figure across all industries, it comes from the same source and period as the industry's. The sections below name each source.
Use these figures
Set your own EBITDA margin beside the industry's on industry margins.
Get your own earnings on the same basis as the deals, and set them against the sector's multiples, in the earnings calculator.
Set the days your own invoices take beside the industry's on payment times.
What businesses sold for
- Construction6.0 times EBITDA, middle half 5.0 to 7.5, 10+ deals
Deal details
Construction: median 6.0 times EBITDA. The middle half of deals ran from 5.0 to 7.5 times (10+ deals of A$10 million to A$500 million, announced 2013 to 2026).
What multiple will my business sell for?
In Australia, construction businesses bought between 2013 and 2026 sold for a median of 6.0 times EBITDA, across 10+ deals.
Source: deals in our database with a published value. Counts by onestepright.
See every construction figure on its sale multiples page.
How deal activity has moved
2015-19 against 2020-26, among the deals in our database.
These count deals in our database, not every deal in the market.
Source: deals in our database. Counts by onestepright.
Margins
In 2024-25, EBITDA was 10.1% of sales across the industry, and operating profit 9.5%.
- Purchases41.1%
- Labour17.9%
- Other costs
- EBITDA10.1%
Every business in the industry together, 2024-25.
What is the average profit margin in construction?
Across every construction business added together, EBITDA was 10.1% of sales in 2024-25, and operating profit 9.5%.
Every business in the industry is added together, so the figures are not a typical business.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian Industry (8155.0). Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Compare margins across industries.
How many businesses are still trading
About 60 in every 100 were still trading four years later.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits (8165.0). Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Compare survival across industries.
Businesses that started and stopped
Each is a share of the businesses trading at the start of the year.
Few exits are insolvencies.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits (8165.0). Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Compare exits across industries.
How fast large businesses pay small suppliers
- This industry29
- All industries23
The typical large business in this industry, against all industries.
In July to December 2025, the typical large business in the industry paid small suppliers in 29 days, and paid 56% of its invoices within 30 days.
Source: Payment Times Reporting Register. © Commonwealth of Australia. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Compare payment times across industries.
What costs did
What wages and input prices did in this industry, and what businesses in it announced. Each comes from its own source and grouping of industries.
Each bar comes from its own source, named below.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Wage Price Index, Australia (6345.0), private sector, total hourly rates excluding bonuses. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Prices of the inputs for house construction rose 3.8% in the year to June 2026.
This covers house construction alone. No ABS series measures the rest of the industry's inputs.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Producer Price Indexes, Australia (6427.0). Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Changes computed by onestepright.
Too few announced rises in this industry to show a median.
Small business cost ratios
The ATO publishes cost ranges for these small business industries in the sector.
Show the 18 industries
- Air conditioning, refrigeration and heating services
- Alarm systems installation – fire and security
- Blocklaying services
- Bricklaying services
- Carpentry services
- Carpet laying services
- Cement rendering
- Concreting services
- Electrical services
- Fence construction
- Glazing services
- Landscape construction
- Painting services
- Plastering and ceiling services
- Plumbing services
- Roofing services – includes roof tiling, guttering and metal roofing
- Tiling services – floor and wall
- Timber floor sanding
Source: Australian Taxation Office, Small business benchmarks 2023-24. © Australian Taxation Office for the Commonwealth of Australia. Not endorsed by the ATO.
See construction in New Zealand.
See construction in the United Kingdom.
See construction in the United States.
Who in your business can move a price, and by how much? The pricing check takes about ten minutes.