Victoria

There were 701,061 small businesses in Victoria on 30 June 2023, representing 28% of all Australian small businesses (compared to 25% of the population that lives in Victoria¹). This is a decrease of 9,389 small businesses or 1.3% from the previous financial year.

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

Table 1: Small business in Victoria, 30 June 2023

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

Greater Melbourne

There were 550,957 small businesses in Greater Melbourne on 30 June 2023, representing 79% of all small businesses in Victoria. The areas of Greater Melbourne with the highest number of small businesses were:

Melbourne City (40,685 small businesses), 35% of these were in Melbourne CBD – West.
Wyndham (31,862 small businesses), 24% of these were in Tarneit, Mount Cottrell and surrounds.
Boroondara (25,543 small businesses), 26% of these were in Hawthorn and surrounds and 22% were in Balwyn and surrounds.
Whittlesea – Wallan (23,141 small businesses), 15% of these were in Epping and surrounds and 14% were in Thomastown.
Monash (22,906 small businesses), 21% of these were in Mount Waverley and surrounds and 14% were in Oakleigh – Huntingdale.

Regional Victoria

There were 148,019 small businesses in the rest of Victoria on 30 June 2023, accounting for 21% of all Victorian small businesses. The areas with the highest number of small businesses were:

Geelong (17,265 small businesses), 18% of these were in Geelong, 10% were in Geelong West – Hamlyn Heights and 10% were in Highton.
Ballarat (9,723 small businesses) 27% of these were in Ballarat and 12% were in Alfredton.
Surf Coast – Bellarine Peninsula (7,897 small businesses), 33% of these were in Torquay.
Gippsland – South West (7,560 small businesses), 31% of these were in Wonthaggi – Inverloch.
Wodonga – Alpine (7,366 small businesses), 31% of these were in Wodonga and West Wodonga, and 16% were in Bright – Mount Beauty.

Table 2: Businesses in Victoria 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 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 Victoria

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

	Greater Melbourne	Rest of Victoria	Victoria Total
2019	4	2	4
2020	4	1	3
2021	4	4	4
2022	12	8	11
2023	-2	0	-1

_{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.

A fall in the number of small businesses in Greater Melbourne drove the overall decrease in small businesses in Victoria in the year to 30 June 2023. This followed significant increases in the previous year.

The number of small businesses decreased by 10,001 (2%) in Greater Melbourne.

The areas with the largest decrease in the number of small businesses were:

Brimbank (decreased by 478 small businesses)
Moreland - North (decreased by 405 small businesses)
Darebin – North (decreased by 402 small businesses).

The areas with the largest percentage decrease from the previous year were:

Moreland – North (decreased by 5%)
Darebin – North (decreased by 5%)
Maribyrnong (decreased by 4%).

The number of small businesses in the rest of Victoria increased by 396 (0.3%) over the year to 30 June 2023. The areas with the largest increase in the number of small businesses were: