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Just under half—49.2%—of Australian businesses entering in 2022–23 remained active at June 2026. The survival rate was 44.6% for non-employing entrants and 70.6% for entrants with 20–199 employees. Tasmania’s entry cohort had the highest state survival rate,54.7%.
“Not surviving” in this dataset does not mean that every business became insolvent. Owners may close voluntarily, sell, restructure or cease the activity captured in the statistical register. These figures measure continued activity for a defined cohort; they are not a forecast of failure for a business starting today.
Three-year survival by industry
| Industry | 2022–23 entrants | Active June 2026 | Survival |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing | 13,845 | 8,333 | 60.2% |
| Mining | 980 | 517 | 52.8% |
| Manufacturing | 11,228 | 5,857 | 52.2% |
| Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste Services | 1,256 | 616 | 49% |
| Construction | 73,113 | 35,094 | 48% |
| Wholesale Trade | 11,203 | 5,105 | 45.6% |
| Retail Trade | 23,766 | 10,979 | 46.2% |
| Accommodation and Food Services | 18,340 | 9,238 | 50.4% |
| Transport, Postal and Warehousing | 55,118 | 20,607 | 37.4% |
| Information Media and Telecommunications | 3,865 | 1,852 | 47.9% |
| Financial and Insurance Services | 18,658 | 9,708 | 52% |
| Rental, Hiring and Real Estate Services | 32,553 | 18,914 | 58.1% |
| Professional, Scientific and Technical Services | 51,382 | 26,378 | 51.3% |
| Administrative and Support Services | 24,806 | 10,525 | 42.4% |
| Public Administration and Safety | 1,370 | 571 | 41.7% |
| Education and Training | 6,408 | 3,231 | 50.4% |
| Health Care and Social Assistance | 29,722 | 17,583 | 59.2% |
| Arts and Recreation Services | 6,649 | 3,322 | 50% |
| Other Services | 21,766 | 11,190 | 51.4% |
| All Industries | 406,365 | 199,742 | 49.2% |
Businesses in agriculture and related activities had the highest industry survival rate in this cohort. Transport, postal and warehousing had the lowest. Different capital requirements, owner motives and business structures can influence entry and exit, so the table does not isolate the effect of industry choice.
Starting employment makes a large difference
| Measure | % |
|---|---|
| Non-employing | 44.6 |
| 1–4 | 61.1 |
| 5–19 | 64.7 |
| 20–199 | 70.6 |
| 200+ | 78.3 |
An employer that starts with staff often has a different scale and operating model from a non-employing entrant. These are descriptive comparisons, not proof that hiring staff itself improves survival. Non-employing is an employment category, not a synonym for sole trader: a company can have no employees and a sole trader can employ staff.
State and territory comparisons
| State or territory | Three-year survival |
|---|---|
| New South Wales | 48% |
| Victoria | 48.6% |
| Queensland | 49.5% |
| South Australia | 52.8% |
| Western Australia | 51.2% |
| Tasmania | 54.7% |
| Northern Territory | 48.1% |
| Australian Capital Territory | 50.4% |
| Australia | 49.2% |
The ABS assigns businesses to a single geography for this analysis. A firm operating across several states is not counted once in every location. Differences in the mix of industries and new entrants can affect each state’s result. A state league table is therefore a starting point for investigation, not a prediction of what will happen to an individual business.
Long-run context: more businesses, substantial churn
Australia had 2,729,648 active businesses in June 2025 and 2,814,778 in June 2026. During 2025–26,460,461 entered and 375,331 exited, leaving a net increase of 85,130. Net growth conceals much larger flows in both directions. A growing count does not establish that all entrants have stable revenue or that exits were forced.
The older 2015–2022 article is not reused as a continuous chart because its wage units and several growth interpretations were unresolved. The underlying earlier material remains in the release archive. The 2020–21 period also coincided with exceptional COVID support and restrictions, making it a poor unqualified comparator for ordinary operating conditions.
Why Australians considered starting a business
A separate SMBLoan survey published in October 2024 asked 1,005 Australian respondents about starting a business. It reported that 55% would consider doing so:38% as a side hustle and 17% as a main income. Better income was the leading stated motivation, selected by 68% in the survey’s motivation question.
This was an intentions survey commissioned under the former Small Business Loans Australia name. Fieldwork dates and the motivation question’s subgroup base are not disclosed in the retained report, so the percentages should not be treated as measured business formation or compared directly with ABS entry counts. Subgroup age and state claims are not reproduced here without their bases.
Before borrowing for a new venture, use the startup finance guide to separate launch costs from the working capital needed before sales cover expenses. A financing plan needs its own cash forecast; a population survival rate cannot establish repayment capacity.
How to use the finding in a lending decision
Ask what would allow the business to meet repayments through its first weak period. Evidence of customer demand, realistic gross margins and an allowance for slower collections matters more than assuming an industry with a higher survival rate is safe. Match the loan term to the asset or cash cycle, and include any personal guarantee in the downside case.
Survival is also a modest test of success: remaining active does not establish profitability, satisfactory owner income or freedom from arrears. For company external administrations relative to industry size, see the separate insolvency index. Its numerator and denominator differ from the entry cohort measures here.
Method and revisions
The current edition uses ABS Counts of Australian Businesses, July 2022–June 2026, released 18 August 2026. Tables 3,6 and 16 provide the entry cohort by industry, state and starting employment. The reported three-year rate is the ABS value for entrants in 2022–23 still active at June 2026. The CSV retains entrant counts, surviving counts and the published percentage so readers can see the base.
The original July 2026 CSV covers the earlier 2021–22 cohort to June 2025. It is preserved as an earlier edition, not relabelled as a new cohort. Four-year survival of businesses already active is a different measure and has not been mixed into the new three-year table.
Sources, citation and reuse
Data period: 2022–23 entrants to June 2026. Cessation in ABS data does not by itself mean insolvency.
Download the data and source notes (CSV). Original downloads used by earlier editions have been retained where available. Keep each file’s observation period with any citation.
Cite: SMBLoan, “Business Survival Rates in Australia:2026 Atlas”, revised 10 October 2026, /research/business-formation-survival-atlas. For source questions or a correction, contact hello@smbloan.com.au.
Original SMBLoan charts may be reproduced with attribution and a link. Government and other third-party data remain subject to the original source’s terms; this page does not grant rights over third-party material. Please keep the observation period and methodological limits with any excerpt.