2 December 2015
PDF version [239KB]
Geoff Gilfillan
Statistics and Mapping Section
-
Small businesses make a significant contribution to
the total value of industry output but a much smaller contribution to the value
of total exports.
-
Small businesses contributed just under a third (33.1
per cent) of total industry value added in the economy in 2013–14. This
compares with a contribution of 40.5 per cent in 2006–07.
-
Small business industry value added (IVA) grew by
$8.1 billion or 2.4 per cent in the 12 months to June 2014.
-
There were 19,970 small business exporters operating
in June 2014 that accounted for 44.1 per cent of all exporting firms
-
Goods exported by small firms were valued at $1.4
billion in 2013–14 which represents 0.5 per cent of the total value of all
exports.
Introduction
This statistical snapshot outlines
the contribution of small business to the Australian economy as measured by
industry value added and value of export performance.
Definition of small
business
The ABS defines a small business as a business
employing fewer than 20 people. Categories of small businesses include:
-
Non-employing businesses (sole proprietorships and
partnerships without employees)
-
Micro-businesses (businesses employing between 1
and 4 people including non-employing businesses)
-
Other small businesses (businesses that employ
between 5 and 19 employees)
Medium sized businesses employ between 20 and
199 employees while large businesses employ 200 employees or more.
Small business contribution
to industry value added
Industry value added (IVA) is the measure of
the contribution by private businesses in each industry to Gross Domestic Product
(GDP)[1]. Small business IVA totaled $343.4 billion in 2013–14—$8.1 billion or
2.4 per cent more than the previous financial year.
The major industry contributors to small
business IVA in 2013–14 were:
-
Rental, hiring and real estate services—$53.8
billion or 15.7 per cent of small business IVA (and 5.2 per cent of total IVA)
-
Construction—$50.4 billion or 14.7 per cent of
small business IVA (and 4.9 per cent of total IVA)
-
Professional, scientific and technical services—$42.5
billion or 12.4 per cent of small business IVA (and 4.1 per cent of total
IVA).
Table 1: Value and share of Industry Value
Added (IVA) by small businesses by industry
|
|
Small business IVA ($billion)
|
Share of small business IVA (%)
|
Total IVA ($million)
|
Share of total IVA (%)
|
|
Agriculture,
forestry and fishing
|
22.0
|
6.4
|
27.5
|
2.1
|
|
Mining
|
12.5
|
3.6
|
124.5
|
1.2
|
|
Manufacturing
|
18.5
|
5.4
|
97.5
|
1.8
|
|
Electricity,
gas, water and waste services
|
2.8
|
0.8
|
44.0
|
0.3
|
|
Construction
|
50.4
|
14.7
|
108.4
|
4.9
|
|
Wholesale
trade
|
22.6
|
6.6
|
66.8
|
2.2
|
|
Retail trade
|
24.3
|
7.1
|
71.4
|
2.3
|
|
Accommodation
and food services
|
12.3
|
3.6
|
37.0
|
1.2
|
|
Transport,
postal and warehousing
|
15.5
|
4.5
|
67.0
|
1.5
|
|
Information
Media & Telecommunications
|
2.6
|
0.8
|
35.9
|
0.3
|
|
Rental,
hiring & real estate services
|
53.8
|
15.7
|
67.4
|
5.2
|
|
Professional,
scientific & technical services
|
42.5
|
12.4
|
102.3
|
4.1
|
|
Administrative
and support services
|
13.6
|
4.0
|
50.2
|
1.3
|
|
Public
administration and safety (private)
|
1.2
|
0.4
|
5.7
|
0.1
|
|
Education
and training (private)
|
3.5
|
1.0
|
23.7
|
0.3
|
|
Health care
and social assistance (private)
|
25.3
|
7.4
|
66.6
|
2.4
|
|
Arts and
recreation services
|
2.6
|
0.8
|
11.7
|
0.3
|
|
Other
services
|
17.3
|
5.1
|
29.6
|
1.7
|
|
TOTAL
SELECTED INDUSTRIES
|
343.4
|
100.0
|
1,037.2
|
33.1
|
Source: ABS, Australian Industry, cat. no.
8155.0, Table 5.
Small businesses contributed just under a
third (33.1 per cent) of all IVA in the economy in 2013–14. This compares with
a 44.4 per cent contribution by larger firms while medium sized firms
contributed 22.5 per cent. The contribution of small businesses to total IVA in
2013–14 is down on its 40.5 per cent share of total IVA achieved in 2006–07.
Table 1: Industry value added by firm size
|
Firm size
|
2003–04
|
2004–05
|
2005–06
|
2006–07
|
2007–08
|
2008–09
|
2009–10
|
2010–11
|
2011–12
|
2012–13
|
2013–14
|
|
Small ($billion)
|
218.5
|
233.7
|
263.7
|
289.6
|
300.0
|
283.2
|
312.8
|
325.8
|
340.9
|
335.3
|
343.4
|
|
Medium ($billion)
|
118.5
|
127.3
|
139.6
|
145.3
|
168.8
|
196.6
|
188.4
|
215.2
|
229.1
|
226.2
|
233.6
|
|
Large ($billion)
|
210.9
|
236.8
|
263.4
|
280.8
|
302.3
|
354.1
|
357.0
|
401.6
|
433.0
|
439.7
|
460.2
|
|
TOTAL ($billion)
|
547.9
|
597.7
|
666.7
|
715.7
|
771.1
|
833.9
|
858.1
|
942.6
|
1002.9
|
1001.2
|
1037.2
|
|
Small business share of total
IVA (%)
|
39.9
|
39.1
|
39.6
|
40.5
|
38.9
|
34.0
|
36.4
|
34.6
|
34.0
|
33.5
|
33.1
|
Source: ABS, Australian Industry, Cat. no.
8155.0, Table 5.
Figure 1: Contribution to total industry
value added by firm size—2008–09 to 2013–14
Source: ABS, Australian Industry, 2013–14,
Cat. No. 8155.0, Table 5.
Figure 2: Small business industry value
added—2002–03 to 2013–14
Source: ABS, Australian Industry, 2013–14,
Cat. No. 8155.0, Table 5.
Small business
contribution to exports
Small businesses account for 44.1 per cent of all
exporting firms but are a much smaller player in terms of their contribution to
the value of exports.
The latest ABS data for 2013–14 shows:
-
there were 19,970 small business exporters operating
in June 2014 that accounted for 44.1 per cent of all exporting firms[2]
-
the number of small business exporters grew by
1,600 or 8.7 per cent in the 12 months to June 2014
-
goods exported by small firms were valued at $1.4
billion in 2013–14 which represents only 0.5 per cent of the value of all
exports (at $272.9 billion). Large firms accounted for $260 billion (or 95.1
per cent of the value of all exports) and medium sized firms accounted for $12
billion (or 4.4 per cent). Large mining companies were the biggest contributor,
accounting for 56.0 per cent of the value of all exports in 2013–14[3].
-
small business exporters engaged in wholesale trade
accounted for 39.5 per cent of the total value of exports by small businesses
in 2013–14, while small manufacturing exporting firms contributed 18.8 per cent[4].
Figure 3: Small business exports—2013–14
|
Contribution to number of exporting firms (%)
|
Contribution
to value of total exports (%)
|
Source: ABS, Characteristics of Australian
Exporters, 2013–14, Cat. No. 5368.0.55.006, Table 5.1.
[1]. GDP Is the
total market value of goods and services produced in Australia within a given
period after deducting the cost of goods and services used up in the process of
production but before deducting allowances for the consumption of fixed capital.
[2]. Includes
small, medium and large sized businesses who supplied and did not supply an ABN
number. Businesses who did not supply an ABN number accounted for 12.6 per cent
of all exporting firms.
[3]. Includes
value of exports for small, medium and large sized businesses who supplied and
did not supply an ABN number. Businesses that did not supply an ABN number only
accounted for 0.4 per cent of the total value of all exports
[4]. Industry
shares refer to the share of total value of exports of small business operators
who supplied an ABN number. Note that the industry of small business exporters
could only be determined for those providing an ABN number. Small business
exporters that did not supply an ABN accounted for 14.6 per cent of the total
value of exports by small businesses.
For copyright reasons some linked items are only available to members of Parliament.
© Commonwealth of Australia
Creative Commons
With the exception of the Commonwealth Coat of Arms, and to the extent that copyright subsists in a third party, this publication, its logo and front page design are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia licence.
In essence, you are free to copy and communicate this work in its current form for all non-commercial purposes, as long as you attribute the work to the author and abide by the other licence terms. The work cannot be adapted or modified in any way. Content from this publication should be attributed in the following way: Author(s), Title of publication, Series Name and No, Publisher, Date.
To the extent that copyright subsists in third party quotes it remains with the original owner and permission may be required to reuse the material.
Inquiries regarding the licence and any use of the publication are welcome to webmanager@aph.gov.au.
This work has been prepared to support the work of the Australian Parliament using information available at the time of production. The views expressed do not reflect an official position of the Parliamentary Library, nor do they constitute professional legal opinion.
Any concerns or complaints should be directed to the Parliamentary Librarian. Parliamentary Library staff are available to discuss the contents of publications with Senators and Members and their staff. To access this service, clients may contact the author or the Library‘s Central Entry Point for referral.