Western Australia

There were 238,907 small businesses in Western Australia on 30 June 2023, representing 9% of all Australian small businesses and in proportion with 11% of Australians living in the west¹.

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

Table 1: Small businesses in Western Australia, 30 June 2023

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

Greater Perth

There were 190,679 small businesses in Greater Perth on 30 June 2023, representing 80% of Western Australia’s small businesses. Similarly, 80% of Western Australians live in Perth and its surrounds.

The Greater Perth areas with the highest number of small businesses were:

Perth City (25,532 small businesses). Of these, 38% were in Perth (West) – Northbridge.
Stirling (21,176 small businesses). Of these, 10% were in Osborne Park Industrial and 10% were in Stirling – Osborne Park.
Wanneroo (14,468 small businesses). Of these, 19% were in Madeley – Darch.
Joondalup (12,506 small businesses). Of these, 12% were in Joondalup – Edgewater and 10% were in Duncraig.
Swan (11,875) small businesses. Of these, 15% were in Malaga.

Regional Western Australia

There were 47,632 small businesses in the rest of Western Australia on 30 June 2023. These accounted for 20% of Western Australia’s small businesses. The highest number of small businesses were in:

Albany (7,072 small businesses). Of these, 23% were in Albany and 13% were in Kojonup.
Bunbury (7,034 small businesses). Of these, 23% were in Bunbury South and 12% were Harvey.
Wheat Belt – North (6,569 small businesses). Of these, 17% were in Gingin – Dandaragan.
Augusta – Margaret River – Busselton (6,456 small businesses). Of these, 66% were in Busselton and surrounds.
Mid West (4,707 small businesses). Of these, 58% were in Geraldton and surrounds.

Table 2: Businesses in Western Australia by size, 30 June 2023

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

_{1 This 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).}

_{² Calculated 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 businesses numbers for Western Australia

Chart 1: Annual change in the number of small businesses in Western Australia

	Greater Perth	Rest of Western Australia	Western Australia Total
2019	1.3	0.0	1.0
2020	0.7	-0.2	0.5
2021	3.7	2.4	3.4
2022	5.4	4.2	5.1
2023	1.7	1.4	1.6

_{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 Western Australia increased 2% and increased by 3,146 (2%) in Greater Perth over the year to 30 June 2023. The areas with the largest increase in small businesses numbers were in:

Gosnells (increased by 653 small businesses)
Swan (increased by 651 small businesses)
Wanneroo (increased by 469 small businesses).

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

Gosnells (increased by 8%)
Armadale (increased by 8%)
Swan (increased by 6%).

The number of small businesses in the rest of Western Australia increased by 671 (1%) over the year to 30 June 2023. The largest increase in the number of small businesses were in: