New South Wales holds close to 900,000 actively trading businesses, more than any other state, and added 20,040 in 2024-25, the largest net increase in the country. Australia-wide the count hit 2,729,648, with 437,150 businesses starting and 370,500 closing in a single year: nearly a third of the market churning in twelve months. This is the Sydney bookkeeper cut of the official numbers: how many businesses are actually out there, where they cluster, and what the churn means for anyone running one.

Published: July 2026. Updated July 2026.

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Where the numbers come from

The ABS publishes Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits (CABEE) annually, built from Australian Business Register and ATO data. It counts actively trading, GST-remitting businesses, so hobby ABNs and sub-$75k side hustles largely sit outside it. That makes every number on this page conservative, which for a citation page is the right kind of wrong.

The verified anchors for FY2024-25: 2,729,648 businesses nationally (up 2.5%), of which only 994,178 employ anyone, about 36%. NSW leads every state on count and on businesses per person (0.106). Construction produced 76,414 new businesses, the most of any industry, while health care and social assistance grew fastest at 6.6%.

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The Sydney picture

The CBD is a professional services machine. In the City of Sydney, professional, scientific and technical services is the largest industry, at 21.9% of all registered businesses, against 14.0% across NSW (economy.id analysis of the ABS business register). More than one in five city businesses is a consultancy, an engineering practice, a law firm, a design studio or an agency. That density spills straight into the fringe: it is why a Surry Hills bookkeeper spends their life in agency pass-through costs, a Pyrmont bookkeeper in tech and media books, and a Darlinghurst bookkeeper somewhere in between.

The growth is in the corridors, not the postcards. The ASBFEO's analysis of ABS location data found Greater Sydney's small business count grinding up only modestly (up 3,104, or 0.5%, in its most recent published year), with the fastest growth not in the harbour suburbs but in the outer corridors, led by Bringelly-Green Valley in the south-west. The glamour postcodes are mature markets; the net new ABNs are being minted where the housing is going in.

The clusters behave like different economies. The Lower North Shore (North Sydney, Mosman, Chatswood, Hunters Hill) runs professional services and property: fewer businesses than the CBD fringe, bigger average books. The Eastern Suburbs (Bondi Junction, Bondi, Double Bay, Coogee, Maroubra) mix retail, hospitality, health and a dense layer of solo professionals. The Inner West (Newtown, Marrickville, Glebe, Strathfield) is creative studios, food manufacturing and the highest density of businesses named after the street they started on. The north and the Hills (Manly, Hornsby, Castle Hill) skew to health practices, trades and family companies. And Parramatta is Sydney's second CBD and, on the trades count, arguably its first: nationally, construction mints more new businesses than any other industry, and a disproportionate share of them are west of Strathfield.

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What the churn number means for owners

The national churn rate, entries plus exits over the business base, ran about 30% in 2024-25, with a 13.9% exit rate. Three practical implications for a Sydney business owner. First, your suppliers and customers turn over constantly, so debtor discipline is not optional; a customer who "has always paid eventually" is a coin flip inside that exit rate. Second, survival correlates with structure: 75% of new businesses survive year one and roughly 48% reach year three, with employing businesses surviving at materially higher rates than non-employers, and you do not keep staff paid on books that are three months behind. Third, the churn is your acquisition pool: every exit in your suburb is a client list, a lease and sometimes a book of work going somewhere.

There is also a supply-side wrinkle: all of those businesses share a thin licensed layer of 4,557 registered BAS agents across NSW, roughly one per 195 businesses, which our State of the Sydney Bookkeeper report unpacks. None of this requires a philosophy. It requires monthly bookkeeping that is actually monthly, payables and cashflow someone watches weekly, and reporting that tells you which side of the churn statistic you are trending toward. Barry, for reference, found out about the 30% churn rate from this page and has gone to lie down in the stationery cupboard.

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FAQ

How many businesses are there in Sydney?

‍The ABS publishes state-level counts: NSW holds close to 900,000 actively trading businesses, the most of any state, with the large majority concentrated in Greater Sydney. Suburb-level counts are published in the ABS CABEE data cubes at SA2 and LGA level.

How many businesses are there in Australia in 2025?

‍2,729,648 actively trading businesses at 30 June 2025, per the ABS. Only 994,178 of them, about 36%, employ anyone.

Which state has the most businesses in Australia?

‍New South Wales, on both raw count and businesses per person (0.106). NSW also added 20,040 businesses in 2024-25, the largest net increase of any state.

How many businesses start and close in Australia each year?

‍In 2024-25, 437,150 businesses entered and 370,500 exited: a combined churn of about 30% of the business population in one year.

What is the biggest industry in Sydney by business count?

‍In the City of Sydney, professional, scientific and technical services leads at 21.9% of registered businesses, well above the 14.0% NSW average. Nationally, construction produces the most new businesses (76,414 entries in 2024-25) and health care is growing fastest at 6.6%.

Does the ABS count sole traders and side hustles?

‍Only if they are actively trading and remitting GST. Businesses under the $75,000 GST turnover threshold that have not registered largely sit outside the count, so true totals are higher than the official figures.

What percentage of new businesses survive?

‍About 75% of new Australian businesses survive their first year and roughly 48% reach year three, with employing businesses surviving at materially higher rates than non-employers.

Why does a bookkeeper publish business count data?

‍Because local business density and industry mix determine what bookkeeping in a suburb actually involves, and because owners deserve the same data journalists and councils use, without the paywall or the jargon.

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About Sydney Bookkeeper

Sydney Bookkeeper is the modern, fixed-price Sydney bookkeeper for businesses with staff that are tired of slow, hourly, jargon-spouting incumbents. We work with professional services firms, construction and property businesses, agencies, tech and ecommerce companies, hospitality groups, and health practices across Sydney. Monthly bookkeeping, BAS lodgement, payroll, and Xero file cleanups, all on fixed monthly pricing, no lock-in.

Visit Sydney Bookkeeper | Get a Free Xero Roast | Book a Chat

The team uses a registered BAS Agent for all BAS and IAS lodgement services. Full registration details, agent particulars, and copies of the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) Code of Professional Conduct, the TPB complaints process, and any conditions on the agent's registration are available on request by emailing hello@sydneybookkeeper.com. This content is general information only, written for Australian small and mid-market businesses. It does not constitute tax, financial product, or legal advice and should not be relied on as such. Tax obligations depend on your individual circumstances. For advice specific to your business, contact the team directly or consult a registered tax agent or licensed financial adviser. Sydney Bookkeeper is not a licensed tax agent or licensed financial adviser. Information was current at the time of publication and may change without notice. We review and update guides periodically.

Sources

• ABS, Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits, July 2021 to June 2025: https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/business-indicators/counts-australian-businesses-including-entries-and-exits/latest-release
• ABS, 7 facts about Australian businesses (August 2025): https://www.abs.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases/7-facts-about-australian-businesses
• ASBFEO, Location of Australia's small businesses by state and territory: https://www.asbfeo.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-03/Location%20of%20Australia%E2%80%99s%20small%20businesses%20by%20state%20and%20territory.pdf
• economy.id, City of Sydney businesses by industry (ABS business register): https://economy.id.com.au/sydney/number-of-businesses-by-industry

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Cite this data

Suggested citation: Sydney Bookkeeper (2026), How Many Businesses Are in Sydney?, sydneybookkeeper.com/articles/sydney-bookkeeper-business-count

Headline figures: New South Wales holds close to 900,000 actively trading businesses, the most of any state, adding 20,040 in 2024-25, the largest net increase in the country; Australia had 2,729,648 businesses at 30 June 2025 with 437,150 entries and 370,500 exits (roughly 30% churn); in the City of Sydney, professional, scientific and technical services makes up 21.9% of registered businesses against 14.0% across NSW.

Methodology: Sydney Bookkeeper analysis of ABS Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits (30 June 2025 release), ASBFEO location analysis of ABS data, and economy.id's City of Sydney industry profile of the ABS business register. GST-registered, actively trading businesses only. Refreshed annually on the ABS release.

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