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The value that small business contributes to employment numbers in Australia is one indication of their contribution to the Australian economy. This can be measured by comparing the number of employees working in small business with employees in other business sizes and similar break downs within industries.
Table 1: Employment numbers ('000s) by business size
Source: ABS Australian Industry, Table 5, May 2025 and ASBFEO calculations, private sector industry. The ABS publish this data for selected industries, which excludes financial and insurance services. Data are in thousands.
Small businesses (as defined by the ABS as those employing 0-19 employees) employed over 5 million people, which is 39% of the private sector workforce in 2023-24 as shown in Table 1.
Chart 1: Employment numbers ('000s) by business size
| 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Micro (0-4 employees) | 2976.3 | 2939.5 | 2958.2 |
| Small (5-19 employees) | 2173.9 | 2350.5 | 2206.4 |
| Medium (20-199 employees) | 2993.2 | 3176.1 | 3375 |
| Large (200+ employees) | 4213.9 | 4386.5 | 4656.4 |
Source: ABS Australian Industry, Table 5, May 2025 and ASBFEO calculations, private sector industry. The ABS publish this data for selected industries, which excludes financial and insurance services. Data are in thousands.
Chart 1 shows the number of people employed by small businesses with between five and nineteen employees decreased 6.1% in 2023-24. This was the only business size to record a fall. Large businesses recorded the highest increase in the number of people employed, rising 6.2%.
Table 2: Employment numbers ('000s) by industry, 30 June 2024
Source: ABS Australian Industry, Table 5, May 2025 and ASBFEO calculations, private sector industry. The ABS publish this data for selected industries, which excludes financial and insurance services. Small businesses are those with 0-19 employees, medium businesses are those with 20-199 employees and large businesses are those with 200+ employees. Data are in thousands. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
Table 2 shows the industry sectors where small businesses make the greatest contribution to employment. The top three industry sectors are:
- Construction (employing 804,000 people in June 2024)
- Professional, scientific and technical services (employing 627,000 people in June 2024)
- Accommodation and food services (employing 486,000 people in June 2024).
Notably, the private sector industries most reliant on small business for employment (that is, with two thirds or more of people employed by small businesses) were:
- Agriculture, forestry and fishing (78% of employment by small businesses)
- Rental, hiring and real estate services (69% of employment by small businesses)
- Other services, e.g. personal services (63% of employment by small businesses)
- Construction (62% of employment by small businesses).
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