NZ’s small businesses: the numbers

Small businesses contributed $153.1 billion, or 25.3 percent, to total industry sales in the 2018 financial year, according to the latest figures from Stats NZ.

“Small businesses are important contributors to the New Zealand economy, accounting for one-third of all businesses,“ says national accounts senior manager for Stats NZ, Gary Dunnet.

There were over 160,000 small businesses in New Zealand in 2018. Small businesses are enterprises with 1–19 employees.

Businesses with no employees, which include the self-employed, accounted for 63.7 percent of businesses and 13.6 percent of sales in 2018. Two-thirds (65.5 percent) of sales in the rental, hiring, and real estate services industry came from businesses with no employees. Commercial property operators were important contributors to this industry.

Small businesses (1–19 employees) were the largest contributors to sales in the agriculture, forestry, and fishing industry in 2018.

Small businesses in the construction industry made up over one-third (38.4 percent) of total industry sales in 2018, and their sales were up 87.6 percent from 2011.

Medium-sized businesses (20–99 employees) accounted for 2.4 percent of businesses and contributed 19.3 percent ($117.1 billion) to sales in 2018. Almost one-third (29.3 percent) of wholesale trade sales came from medium-sized businesses.

“In 2018 the number of large businesses, those with 100 or more employees, increased to over 2,000 in number. They only accounted for 0.4 percent of all businesses, but contributed 41.8 percent or $253 billion to total industry sales,” Dunnet says.

Large firms dominated the manufacturing industry, contributing 67.8 percent to total sales and employing over 115,000 people in 2018.  

Note: Annual enterprise survey: 2018 financial year (provisional) has downloadable files in Excel and CSV format.