This statistic displays the share of small businesses who have a website in Australia from 2011 to 2018, by business size. In 2018, 86 percent of small businesses with ten to 19 employees had their own website in Australia.

The statistic shows the share of small and medium-sized businesses owning computers in Australia in 2018, by number of employees. That year, 61 percent of the businesses in Australia with between five and nine employees owned laptops.

Abstract

The Future of Business Survey is a new source of information on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Launched in February 2016, the monthly survey - a partnership between Facebook, OECD, and The World Bank - provides a timely pulse on the economic environment in which businesses operate and who those businesses are to help inform decision-making at all levels and to deliver insights that can help businesses grow. The Future of Business Survey provides a perspective from newer and long-standing digitalized businesses and provides a unique window into a new mobilized economy.

Policymakers, researchers and businesses share a common interest in the environment in which SMEs operate, as well their outlook on the future, not least because young and innovative SMEs in particular are often an important source of considerable economic and employment growth. Better insights and timely information about SMEs improve our understanding of economic trends, and can provide new insights that can further stimulate and help these businesses grow.

To help provide these insights, Facebook, OECD and The World Bank have collaborated to develop a monthly survey that attempts to improve our understanding of SMEs in a timely and forward-looking manner. The three organizations share a desire to create new ways to hear from businesses and help them succeed in the emerging digitally-connected economy. The shared goal is to help policymakers, researchers, and businesses better understand business sentiment, and to leverage a digital platform to provide a unique source of information to complement existing indicators.

With more businesses leveraging online tools each day, the survey provides a lens into a new mobilized, digital economy and, in particular, insights on the actors: a relatively unmeasured community worthy of deeper consideration and considerable policy interest.

Geographic coverage

When the survey was initially launched in February 2016, it included 22 countries. When the survey was initially launched in February 2016, it included 22 countries. The Future of Business Survey is now conducted in over 90 countries in every region of the world.

Analysis unit

The study describes small and medium-sized enterprises.

Universe

The target population consists of SMEs that have an active Facebook business Page and include both newer and longer-standing businesses, spanning across a variety of sectors. With more businesses leveraging online tools each day, the survey provides a lens into a new mobilized, digital economy and, in particular, insights on the actors: a relatively unmeasured community worthy of deeper consideration and considerable policy interest.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

Twice a year in over 97 countries, the Facebook Survey Team sends the Future of Business to admins and owners of Facebook-designated small business pages. When we share data from this survey, we anonymize responses to all survey questions and only share country-level data publicly. To achieve better representation of the broader small business population, we also weight our results based on known characteristics of the Facebook Page admin population.

A random sample of firms, representing the target population in each country, is selected to respond to the Future of Business Survey each month.

Mode of data collection

Internet [int]

Research instrument

The survey includes questions about perceptions of current and future economic activity, challenges, business characteristics and strategy. Custom modules include questions related to regulation, access to finance, digital payments, and digital skills. The full questionnaire is available for download.

The questionnaire was pretested by the target audience, as well as experts from the area of research interest. Additionally, steps were taken to translate the survey in order to reduce sensitivities to cultural response bias: - Respondents were given the option to respond to the survey in any of fifteen languages native to the countries in which it was conducted. - Translations were done only by native speakers, with two rounds of additional online checks in the context of the survey environment. - Translators were provided with context material for this survey (e.g., the Facebook for Business website) in order to understand the context of the survey. They were also instructed to take the English survey at least two times before starting with the translations. - Translations were discussed in a group in order to ensure a common understanding of questions and items. - The tone (formal vs. informal) of the survey was based on cultural conventions, e.g., Facebook usually uses an informal tone, while in cultures such as the Japanese this is very uncommon and thus a formal tone was used there.

Response rate

Response rates to online surveys vary widely depending on a number of factors including survey length, region, strength of the relationship with invitees, incentive mechanisms, invite copy, interest of respondents in the topic and survey design.

Note: Response rates are calculated as the number of respondents who completed the survey divided by the total number of SMEs invited.

Sampling error estimates

Any survey data is prone to several forms of error and biases that need to be considered to understand how closely the results reflect the intended population. In particular, the following components of the total survey error are noteworthy:

Sampling error is a natural characteristic of every survey based on samples and reflects the uncertainty in any survey result that is attributable to the fact that not the whole population is surveyed.

Other factors beyond sampling error that contribute to such potential differences are frame or coverage error (sampling frame of page owners does not include all relevant businesses but also may include individuals that don't represent businesses), and nonresponse error.

Note that the sample is meant to reflect the population of businesses on Facebook, not the population of small businesses in general. This group of digitized SMEs is itself a community worthy of deeper consideration and of considerable policy interest. However, care should be taken when extrapolating to the population of SMEs in general. Moreover, future work should evaluate the external validity of the sample. Particularly, respondents should be compared to the broader population of SMEs on Facebook, and the economy as a whole.

The majority of Australian businesses, 62 percent, did not have any employees in 2018. This indicates that many businesses were self-employed people working for themselves. In Australia, a business that has fewer than 200 employees is categorized as being a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME). Around 98 percent of all Australian businesses fell under this category in 2019.

Abstract

The Future of Business Survey is a new source of information on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Launched in February 2016, the monthly survey - a partnership between Facebook, OECD, and The World Bank - provides a timely pulse on the economic environment in which businesses operate and who those businesses are to help inform decision-making at all levels and to deliver insights that can help businesses grow. The Future of Business Survey provides a perspective from newer and long-standing digitalized businesses and provides a unique window into a new mobilized economy.

Policymakers, researchers and businesses share a common interest in the environment in which SMEs operate, as well their outlook on the future, not least because young and innovative SMEs in particular are often an important source of considerable economic and employment growth. Better insights and timely information about SMEs improve our understanding of economic trends, and can provide new insights that can further stimulate and help these businesses grow.

To help provide these insights, Facebook, OECD and The World Bank have collaborated to develop a monthly survey that attempts to improve our understanding of SMEs in a timely and forward-looking manner. The three organizations share a desire to create new ways to hear from businesses and help them succeed in the emerging digitally-connected economy. The shared goal is to help policymakers, researchers, and businesses better understand business sentiment, and to leverage a digital platform to provide a unique source of information to complement existing indicators.

With more businesses leveraging online tools each day, the survey provides a lens into a new mobilized, digital economy and, in particular, insights on the actors: a relatively unmeasured community worthy of deeper consideration and considerable policy interest.

Geographic coverage

Argentina Australia Belgium Brazil Canada Colombia Egypt France Germany Ghana India Indonesia Ireland Israel Italy Kenya Mexico Nigeria Pakistan Philippines (the) Poland Portugal Russian Federation (the) South Africa Spain Taiwan Turkey United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the) United States of America (the) Viet Nam

Analysis unit

The study describes small and medium-sized enterprises.

Universe

The target population consists of SMEs that have an active Facebook business Page and include both newer and longer-standing businesses, spanning across a variety of sectors. With more businesses leveraging online tools each day, the survey provides a lens into a new mobilized, digital economy and, in particular, insights on the actors: a relatively unmeasured community worthy of deeper consideration and considerable policy interest.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

Twice a year in over 97 countries, the Facebook Survey Team sends the Future of Business to admins and owners of Facebook-designated small business pages. When we share data from this survey, we anonymize responses to all survey questions and only share country-level data publicly. To achieve better representation of the broader small business population, we also weight our results based on known characteristics of the Facebook Page admin population.

A random sample of firms, representing the target population in each country, is selected to respond to the Future of Business Survey each month.

Mode of data collection

Internet [int]

Research instrument

The survey includes questions about perceptions of current and future economic activity, challenges, business characteristics and strategy. Custom modules include questions related to regulation, access to finance, digital payments, and digital skills. The full questionnaire is available for download.

Response rate

Response rates to online surveys vary widely depending on a number of factors including survey length, region, strength of the relationship with invitees, incentive mechanisms, invite copy, interest of respondents in the topic and survey design.

Note: Response rates are calculated as the number of respondents who completed the survey divided by the total number of SMEs invited.

Sampling error estimates

Any survey data is prone to several forms of error and biases that need to be considered to understand how closely the results reflect the intended population. In particular, the following components of the total survey error are noteworthy:

Sampling error is a natural characteristic of every survey based on samples and reflects the uncertainty in any survey result that is attributable to the fact that not the whole population is surveyed.

Other factors beyond sampling error that contribute to such potential differences are frame or coverage error (sampling frame of page owners does not include all relevant businesses but also may include individuals that don't represent businesses), and nonresponse error.

Note that the sample is meant to reflect the population of businesses on Facebook, not the population of small businesses in general. This group of digitized SMEs is itself a community worthy of deeper consideration and of considerable policy interest. However, care should be taken when extrapolating to the population of SMEs in general. Moreover, future work should evaluate the external validity of the sample. Particularly, respondents should be compared to the broader population of SMEs on Facebook, and the economy as a whole.

Additional information reported in lieu of inclusion in the annual report. To read the complete annual report visit www.desbt.qld.gov.au and search for 'annual report'.

The construction industry led the count of small-sized Australian businesses with a 17 percent share in 2018. In this year, around 97 percent of all Australian businesses employed less than 20 people.

Australia SMEs Enterprises Survey: Perceptions of The Economy: for Next 12 Months data was reported at 2.000 % Point in Feb 2019. This records a decrease from the previous number of 5.000 % Point for Nov 2018. Australia SMEs Enterprises Survey: Perceptions of The Economy: for Next 12 Months data is updated quarterly, averaging 7.000 % Point from May 1994 (Median) to Feb 2019, with 100 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 56.000 % Point in May 1994 and a record low of -36.000 % Point in Feb 2009. Australia SMEs Enterprises Survey: Perceptions of The Economy: for Next 12 Months data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Sensis Pty Ltd. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Australia – Table AU.S045: Sensis Business Index: Small and Medium Business Outlook & Confidence Survey: Old (Discontinued).

This dataset presents information about total income distribution. The data covers the financial year of 2017-2018, and is based on Statistical Area Level 3 (SA3) according to the 2016 edition of the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS).

Total Income is the sum of all reported income derived from Employee income, Own unincorporated business, Superannuation, Investments and Other income. Total income does not include the non-lodger population.

Government pensions, benefits or allowances are excluded from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) income data and do not appear in Other income or Total income. Pension recipients can fall below the income threshold that necessitates them lodging a tax return, or they may only receive tax free pensions or allowances. Hence they will be missing from the personal income tax data set. Recent estimates from the ABS Survey of Income and Housing (which records Government pensions and allowances) suggest that this component can account for between 9% to 11% of Total income.

All monetary values are presented as gross pre-tax dollars, as far as possible. This means they reflect income before deductions and loses, and before any taxation or levies (e.g. the Medicare levy or the temporary budget repair levy) are applied. The amounts shown are nominal, they have not been adjusted for inflation. The income presented in this release has been categorised into income types, these categories have been devised by the ABS to closely align to ABS definitions of income.

The statistics in this release are compiled from the Linked Employer Employee Dataset (LEED), a cross-sectional database based on administrative data from the Australian taxation system. The LEED includes more than 120 million tax records over seven consecutive years between 2011-12 and 2017-18.

Please note:

• All personal income tax statistics included in LEED were provided in de-identified form with no home address or date of birth. Addresses were coded to the ASGS and date of birth was converted to an age at 30 June of the reference year prior to data provision.

• To minimise the risk of identifying individuals in aggregate statistics, perturbation has been applied to the statistics in this release. Perturbation involves small random adjustment of the statistics and is considered the most satisfactory technique for avoiding the release of identifiable statistics, while maximising the range of information that can be released. These adjustments have a negligible impact on the underlying pattern of the statistics. Some cells have also been suppressed due to low counts.

• Totals may not align with the sum of their components due to missing or unpublished information in the underlying data and perturbation.

For further information please visit the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

AURIN has made the following changes to the original data:

• Spatially enabled the original data.

• Set 'np' (not published to protect the confidentiality of individuals or businesses) values to Null.

This dataset presents data on the numbers and status of employment by occupation and gender for the Statistical Area Level 4 (SA4) regions as of August 2018. The boundaries for this dataset follow the 2011 edition of the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS).

The Australian Government Department of Jobs and Small Business publishes a range of labour market data on its Labour Market Information Portal. The data provided includes unemployment rate, employment rate, participation rate, youth unemployment rate, unemployment duration, population by age group and employment by industry and occupation.

Please note:

• AURIN has spatially enabled the original data.

• Data Source: ABS Labour Force Survey, four quarter average.

Recipients of Department of Small Business and Training - Small Business Grants

Australia SMEs Enterprises Survey: Expectation: Sales Value data was reported at 29.000 % Point in Feb 2019. This records an increase from the previous number of 11.000 % Point for Nov 2018. Australia SMEs Enterprises Survey: Expectation: Sales Value data is updated quarterly, averaging 29.500 % Point from May 1994 (Median) to Feb 2019, with 100 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 51.000 % Point in Aug 1994 and a record low of -19.000 % Point in Feb 2009. Australia SMEs Enterprises Survey: Expectation: Sales Value data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Sensis Pty Ltd. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Australia – Table AU.S045: Sensis Business Index: Small and Medium Business Outlook & Confidence Survey: Old (Discontinued).

The statistic shows the share of small and medium sized businesses who own a computer in Australia as of July 2018. During the survey, 62 percent of the small and medium sized businesses surveyed in Australia said they owned a notebook computer.

This dataset presents data on the numbers and status of employment by occupation and gender for the Greater Capital City Statistical Area (GCCSA) regions as of August 2018. The boundaries for this dataset follow the 2011 edition of the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS).

The Australian Government Department of Jobs and Small Business publishes a range of labour market data on its Labour Market Information Portal. The data provided includes unemployment rate, employment rate, participation rate, youth unemployment rate, unemployment duration, population by age group and employment by industry and occupation.

Please note:

• AURIN has spatially enabled the original data.

• Data Source: ABS Labour Force Survey, four quarter average.

This dataset presents the employment summary for the labour market data for the Statistical Area Level 4 (SA4) regions as of August 2018. The boundaries for this dataset follow the 2011 edition of …Show full descriptionThis dataset presents the employment summary for the labour market data for the Statistical Area Level 4 (SA4) regions as of August 2018. The boundaries for this dataset follow the 2011 edition of the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS). The Australian Government Department of Jobs and Small Business publishes a range of labour market data on its Labour Market Information Portal. The data provided includes unemployment rate, employment rate, participation rate, youth unemployment rate, unemployment duration, population by age group and employment by industry and occupation. Please note: AURIN has spatially enabled the original data. Data Source: ABS Labour Force Survey, four quarter average. The working age population defined in this dataset refers to people aged 15-64/

Australia SMEs Enterprises Survey: Actual: Size of Workforce data was reported at -4.000 % Point in Feb 2019. This records a decrease from the previous number of 0.000 % Point for Nov 2018. Australia SMEs Enterprises Survey: Actual: Size of Workforce data is updated quarterly, averaging 0.000 % Point from May 1994 (Median) to Feb 2019, with 100 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 8.000 % Point in May 2005 and a record low of -7.000 % Point in Feb 2010. Australia SMEs Enterprises Survey: Actual: Size of Workforce data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Sensis Pty Ltd. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Australia – Table AU.S045: Sensis Business Index: Small and Medium Business Outlook & Confidence Survey: Old (Discontinued).

Australia SMEs Enterprises Survey: Actual: Profitability data was reported at -2.000 % Point in Feb 2019. This records a decrease from the previous number of -1.000 % Point for Nov 2018. Australia SMEs Enterprises Survey: Actual: Profitability data is updated quarterly, averaging -2.000 % Point from May 1994 (Median) to Feb 2019, with 100 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 25.000 % Point in May 1994 and a record low of -27.000 % Point in Aug 2011. Australia SMEs Enterprises Survey: Actual: Profitability data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Sensis Pty Ltd. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Australia – Table AU.S045: Sensis Business Index: Small and Medium Business Outlook & Confidence Survey: Old (Discontinued).

This statistic displays the share of small and medium-sized businesses with a social media presence in Australia from 2011 to 2018. In 2018, about 51 percent of small and medium-sized businesses surveyed said they had a social media presence.

Australia SMEs Enterprises Survey: Expectation: Prices data was reported at 14.000 % Point in Feb 2019. This records an increase from the previous number of 13.000 % Point for Nov 2018. Australia SMEs Enterprises Survey: Expectation: Prices data is updated quarterly, averaging 19.000 % Point from May 1994 (Median) to Feb 2019, with 100 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 50.000 % Point in May 2000 and a record low of 0.000 % Point in Nov 1995. Australia SMEs Enterprises Survey: Expectation: Prices data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Sensis Pty Ltd. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Australia – Table AU.S045: Sensis Business Index: Small and Medium Business Outlook & Confidence Survey: Old (Discontinued).

Gifts Register data for Qtr 3 and Qtr 4, 2018 Gifts Register data for Qtr 3 and Qtr 4, 2018