Just compiled a list to pair the total number of businesses and population by each council in Victoria. Interesting to see the dominance of inner suburbs (5 kms from Melbourne CBD) in terms of where businesses are located (and jobs as well). The only non-metropolitan local council made it to top 10s is City of Greater Geelong.

Rank Local Govt. Area (LGA) No. of businesses State % share Population State % share 1 Melbourne 35,276 6.52% 122,207 2.09% 2 Boroondara 23,655 4.37% 172,612 2.95% 3 Port Phillip 18,309 3.38% 104,846 1.79% 4 Monash 18,263 3.37% 185,037 3.16% 5 Casey 16,850 3.11% 283,415 4.85% 6 Stonnington 16,807 3.10% 105,981 1.81% 7 Greater Geelong 15,731 2.90% 224,926 3.85% 8 Kingston 15,533 2.87% 153,079 2.62% 9 Glen Eira 14,693 2.71% 144,059 2.46% 10 Whitehorse 14,531 2.68% 163,697 2.80% 11 Mornington Peninsula 13,825 2.55% 153,800 2.63% 12 Yarra 13,541 2.50% 86,506 1.48% 13 Hume 13,163 2.43% 188,832 3.23% 14 Yarra Ranges 13,085 2.42% 150,098 2.56% 15 Knox 12,683 2.34% 155,508 2.66% 16 Bayside 12,646 2.33% 99,947 1.71% 17 Manningham 12,643 2.33% 118,521 2.02% 18 Greater Dandenong 12,531 2.31% 149,518 2.55% 19 Brimbank 12,275 2.27% 197,701 3.38% 20 Moreland 11,576 2.14% 163,488 2.79% 21 Whittlesea 11,442 2.11% 187,006 3.20% 22 Darebin 11,330 2.09% 148,728 2.54% 23 Wyndham 11,182 2.06% 199,715 3.41% 24 Moonee Valley 10,089 1.86% 117,337 2.00% 25 Banyule 10,037 1.85% 125,503 2.14% 26 Frankston 9,439 1.74% 135,243 2.31% 27 Maroondah 8,763 1.62% 111,223 1.90% 28 Ballarat 7,636 1.41% 100,283 1.71% 29 Greater Bendigo 7,541 1.39% 106,971 1.83% 30 Cardinia 6,752 1.24% 87,008 1.48% 31 Nillumbik 6,380 1.18% 62,872 1.07% 32 Hobsons Bay 6,233 1.15% 91,148 1.56% 33 Greater Shepparton 6,215 1.14% 63,269 1.08% 34 Melton 6,189 1.14% 127,677 2.18% 35 Maribyrnong 6,092 1.12% 81,859 1.40% 36 Mildura 5,046 0.93% 53,036 0.90% 37 Baw Baw 4,910 0.90% 45,945 0.78% 38 Macedon Ranges 4,411 0.81% 44,715 0.76% 39 Latrobe 4,222 0.78% 73,653 1.26% 40 East Gippsland 4,213 0.77% 43,772 0.74% 41 Campaspe 4,142 0.76% 36,881 0.63% 42 Wellington 3,985 0.73% 42,220 0.72% 43 South Gippsland 3,689 0.68% 27,937 0.47% 44 Surf Coast 3,116 0.57% 28,481 0.48% 45 Moira 3,075 0.56% 28,833 0.49% 46 Wangaratta 3,040 0.56% 27,117 0.46% 47 Mitchell 2,850 0.52% 38,515 0.65% 48 Warrnambool 2,802 0.51% 33,501 0.57% 49 Bass Coast 2,737 0.50% 31,623 0.54% 50 Wodonga 2,683 0.49% 38,131 0.65% 51 Moorabool 2,496 0.46% 30,926 0.52% 52 Swan Hill 2,480 0.45% 20,580 0.35% 53 Corangamite 2,350 0.43% 15,996 0.27% 54 Moyne 2,317 0.42% 16,344 0.27% 55 Colac-Otway 2,221 0.41% 20,501 0.35% 56 Horsham 2,148 0.39% 19,691 0.33% 57 Southern Grampians 2,070 0.38% 15,919 0.27% 58 Glenelg 2,008 0.37% 19,357 0.33% 59 Indigo 1,720 0.31% 15,409 0.26% 60 Murrindindi 1,654 0.30% 13,595 0.23% 61 Golden Plains 1,640 0.30% 20,544 0.35% 62 Mount Alexander 1,580 0.29% 18,102 0.30% 63 Benalla 1,511 0.27% 13,597 0.23% 64 Alpine 1,494 0.27% 12,028 0.20% 65 Hepburn 1,469 0.27% 14,888 0.25% 66 Gannawarra 1,353 0.25% 10,145 0.17% 67 Strathbogie 1,319 0.24% 9,810 0.16% 68 Northern Grampians 1,196 0.22% 11,719 0.20% 69 Ararat 1,055 0.19% 11,184 0.19% 70 Yarriambiack 1,048 0.19% 6,892 0.11% 71 Loddon 1,047 0.19% 7,365 0.12% 72 Buloke 1,006 0.18% 6,086 0.10% 73 Mansfield 980 0.18% 8,217 0.14% 74 Towong 902 0.16% 5,797 0.09% 75 Pyrenees 850 0.15% 6,979 0.11% 76 Central Goldfields 845 0.15% 12,606 0.21% 77 Hindmarsh 830 0.15% 5,644 0.09% 78 West Wimmera 755 0.13% 3,982 0.06% 79 Queenscliffe 388 0.07% 3,027 0.05% Victoria Total 540,589 100.00% 5,840,910 100.00%

ABS Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits (CABEE) just released

The annual ABS publication Cat.8165.0, in what ABS terms as "CABEE" has just been released. It provides he latest headline statistics on number of businesses in various sizes in various categories. I am still going through it at the moment. But it is a bit of shock that all States and Territories posted decreases in number of actively trading businesses, going against the trend for last few years. Will post more results later.

My home State, Victoria went from 551,111 number of businesses in June 2012 to 538,775 in June 2013 - a -2.2% decrease (lower than the national average of -2.9%). The worst happened in Queensland, down by -3.3% to 414,438, total number even less than that achieved in June 2009 (420,974).

Latest data on Australian businesses - Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has recently released data cubes from Cat. 8165.0 Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits, which enable me to determine the number of small businesses by State, by employment size, by industry and by statistical area (as at end June 2012).

Here is my first cut analysising what is happening on small business counts in my home state (Victoria).

• As at June 2012, there were 551,220 actively trading businesses in Victoria, representing 25.7 per cent of all businesses in Australia (2,141,280).

• There has been a net increase of 8,868 actively trading businesses in Australia (June 2012 compared with June 2011), due to an increase in new registrations, as well as decline in the exit rate of businesses

• The largest increase in businesses for a single state, as highlighted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, is Victoria (7,291), among which 6,794 are small businesses.

• While NSW (3,849), ACT (403) and NT (165) also recorded increases, there are States posted a decline: Queensland (-2,032), WA (-771) and Tasmania (-181).

Changes in number of businesses (June 2012 compared with June 2011)

• Victoria    7,291
• NSW    3,849
• ACT    403
• currently unknown    170
• NT    165
• Queensland    -2,032
• WA    -771
• Tasmania    -181
• SA    -26
• Australia (net increase)    8,868

The figure of 551,220 represents businesses of all sizes, with the breakdown by size of employment as follows:

• Non-employing micro-business     336,149 
• Employing micro-business (1-4 employed persons)    135,249
• Other employing small business (5-19)    58,292
• Medium business (20-199)    19,977
• Large business (200+)    1,630
• TOTAL    551,220

• As at June 2012, ABS confirmed Victoria had more than half a million actively trading small businesses (529,690). The ABS defines a small business as a business employing less than 20 people.*

*The ABS defines a small and medium enterprise (SME) as a business employing 199 or less people. As at June 2012, the total number of Victorian SMEs is 549,667.

• When compared with June 2011 (522,896), there has been an increase of 6,794 small businesses, representing an average annual growth of 1.3%.

• Small business is an essential part of the Victorian economy, representing 96 per cent of all businesses and supplying 47 per cent of private sector jobs. Around 28 per cent of small businesses are located in regional and rural Victoria.

• Small businesses can be found in almost every industry and sector.

• The top five sectors with the greatest numbers of small businesses are:

o construction (87,857 - 16.6 per cent of all small businesses);
o professional, scientific and technical services (65,353 - 12.3 per cent);
o rental, hiring and real estate services (55,494 - 10.5 per cent);
o agriculture, forestry and fishing (43,770 - 8.3 per cent); and
o financial and insurance services (43,694 - 8.2 per cent).

3rd NatStats Conference to be held in Brisbane - 12-14 March 2013

Just received an invitation to attend the 3rd NatStats 2013 Conference hosted by the Australian Bureau of Statistis (ABS).

When: Tuesday 12 - Thursday 14 March 2013

Where: Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre

A wonderful opportunity to meet all the "number crunchers" around Australia!

I attended the past two conferences: Melbourne 2008 and Sydney 2010. A trend of seeking better sunshine.

Half a million of small businesses in Victoria, Australia

As a policy adviser with the Victorian Department of Business and Innovation, I am also responsible to look after statistics and data on small business. Just wish to establish a blog to share my experiences. And if anyone would like some directions and assistance on finding statistics, surveys and articles on small businesses, you have found the right blog.

To start with:
- there are over half a million of small businesses in Victoria, Australia; and
- 96% of all businesses in Victoria are regarded as small business (with 19 employees or below).