Economic insights for the small businesses sector
The SME Performance Indicator is an aggregation of gross value added (GVA) for the small business sector (1-19 employees).
Analysis of this sector, including breakdowns of key industries and states, provides insight into our economic future.
SME Performance Score
For the month of August, the SME Performance score sits at -2.3. This is lower than the reading for May (just less than -2.0), as reported in the previous edition of the MYOB SME Performance Indicator.
Retail challenges
Cost of living pressures have impacted household spending, which is illustrated by anonymised MYOB data on electronic bank deposits by retailers in the small business sector.
Economic performance across states and industries
The findings reveal an overall upward trend, however the small business sector in Western Australia has performed more strongly than the other major states.
Retail GVA has declined at a fairly steady pace since the end of 2021, likely due to consumers reducing discretionary spending.
Accommodation and hospitality GVA has continued to fall since the previous edition of the Indicator, with the industry particularly effected by challenging budgetary conditions facing households.
Construction GVA has fallen further in the past three months, with the softening reflecting the slow-down in construction activity in the sector.
Health small business GVA is tracking steadily, though some decline has taken place since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Agriculture remains at high levels, and GVA is expected to continue to track relatively strongly over the current financial year.
Information, media and telecommunications (IMT) has seen GVA soften recently following a period where the IMT industry was one of the stand-out performers in the SME sector.
Professional, scientific and technical (PST) GVA has been relatively resilient over the past three years. As with IMT, this industry is largely business-to business, the recent softening suggests the business sector is cutting back on PST services.
