The number of actively trading businesses in Australia grew in the 2022/23 financial year, despite a big increase in business closures. According to the latest ABS data on business entries and exits, there were 386,392 business closures in the year to June last year – an increase of 26.5 per cent over the 305,085 closures in 2021/22. There were 406,365 business starts in 2022/23 – 14 per cent less than the 472,731 starts in 2021/22. The net change in 2022/23 was an increase of 19,973. The ABS said the industries with the highest net reduction in actively traded businesses were retail trade and administrative and support services. The biggest increases were in healthcare, financial and insurance services, and transport, postal and warehousing. More than 90 per cent (91.9 per cent) of businesses had turnover of less than A$2 million in 2022/23 and 24.7 per cent had turnover of less than $50,000.