After hitting a two-year high in the September quarter last year, the number of failed business in Australia was closer to the long-term trend in the December quarter.According to the latest analysis from Dun & Bradstreet, there were 12,170 business failures in the three months to December, compared with 13,615 in the September quarter.December quarter business failures were down 2.7 per cent year on year. There were 12,509 failures in the December quarter in 2014.D&B's numbers include businesses that have entered external administration or liquidation, which are reported to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, as well as business that have been involuntarily deregistered and deemed insolvent at the time of closure.The ratio of total businesses to failed businesses was 185:1 in the December quarter, compared with 163:1 in the September quarter and 170:1 in the December quarter in 2014.The number of new businesses started during the December quarter was 55,746, compared with 63,502 in the September quarter.The ratio of new businesses to failed businesses remained steady at around 5:1 in the December and September quarter.There were 4069 business failures in the December quarter in New South Wales, 3227 in Victoria, 2563 in Queensland, 956 in Western Australia, 459 in South Australia, 86 in the Northern Territory, 85 in Tasmania and 159 in the Australian Capital Territory.