New South Wales

There were 849,075 small businesses in New South Wales (NSW) on 30 June 2023. These accounted for 34% of all Australian small businesses (compared to 31% of the population that live in NSW¹). In NSW, the number of small businesses increased by 1% in the year to June 2023.

_{¹Australian Bureau of Statistics,}_{Regional Population, 2021-22,}_{Accessed 15 January 2024}

Table 1: Small business in NSW, 30 June 2023

Source: Based on Australian Bureau of Statistics, customised data, 2023.

Greater Sydney

There were 594,855 small businesses in Greater Sydney on 30 June 2023, representing 70% of all small businesses in NSW. The number of small businesses in the greater capital city area increased by 3,104 (representing an increase of 0.5%) over the year to June 2023.

The Greater Sydney areas with the highest number of small businesses on 30 June 2023 were:

Sydney Inner City (74,583 small businesses), 50% of these were in Sydney (North) – Millers Point.
Eastern Suburbs – North (22,003 small businesses), 20% of these were in Bondi Junction – Waverly.
Bankstown (20,471 small businesses), 13% of these were in Bankstown – South and 13% were in Condell Park.
Baulkham Hills (19,329 small businesses), 30% of these were in Baulkham Hills (West) – Bella Vista.
Merrylands – Guildford (18,325 small businesses), 16% of these were in Merrylands – Holroyd and 16% were in Granville – Clyde.

Regional New South Wales

There were 249,179 small businesses in the rest of NSW, accounting for 29% of NSW small businesses on 30 June 2023. The number of small businesses in the rest of the state increased by 3,404 (up 1.4%) in the year to 30 June 2023.

The areas with the highest number of small businesses were:

Newcastle (15,227 small businesses), 18% of these were in Newcastle – Cooks Hill.
Richmond Valley – Coastal (11,052 small businesses), 34% of these were in Ballina and surrounds and 19% were in Byron Bay.
Wollongong (10,662 small businesses), 24%% of these were in Wollongong – East.
Wagga Wagga (9,266 small businesses), 72% of these were in Wagga Wagga and surrounds. An additional 9% were in Temora.
Lake Macquarie – East (8,771 small businesses), 23% of these were in Charlestown – Dudley.

Table 2: Businesses in NSW by size, 30 June 2023

_{^*Includes businesses where information is only available at the state/territory level.}

_{¹This includes a small number of businesses which have income tax withholding roles for purposes other than withholding amounts from wages and salaries (and as such have zero employment).}

_{²Calculated by the ASBFEO based on the ABS definition of small business of 0-19 employees.}

Source: Based on Australian Bureau of Statistics, customised data, 2023.

Changes in small business numbers for NSW

Chart 1: Annual change in the number of small businesses in NSW

	Greater Syd	Rest of NSW	NSW Total
2019	3.6	1.6	2.9
2020	2.3	0.9	1.9
2021	4.0	4.5	4.1
2022	5.6	6.2	5.5
2023	0.5	1.4	0.8

_{Total includes a small number of businesses where information is only available at the state/territory level.}

Source: Based on Australian Bureau of Statistics, customised data, 2023.

The number of small businesses in NSW increased by 1% over the year to 30 June 2023. They increased by 3,104 (0.5%) in Greater Sydney. The areas with the largest increase in the number of small businesses were:

Blacktown – North (increased by 1,078 small businesses)
Sydney Inner City (increased by 1,065 small businesses)
Bringelly – Green Valley (increased by 742 small businesses).

The areas with the largest percentage increase in the previous year were:

Blacktown North (increased by 10%)
Rouse Hill – McGraths Hill (increased by 7%)
Bringelly – Green Valley (increased by 7%).

The number of small businesses in the rest of NSW increased by 3,404 (1.4%) over the year to 30 June 2023. The areas with the largest increase in the number of small businesses were: