KEY POINTS:
The number of businesses in New Zealand increased by 2 per cent in the year to February 2007, even as the number of enterprises being born continued to trend down.
In all 60,443 enterprises were born during the period, representing 13 per cent of the 463,380 total, according
to the Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) data released today.
Preliminary estimates put the total number of enterprise deaths for the February 2007 year at 54,407, representing 12 per cent of the total.
The figures are included in the first official publication of a new business statistical series. To enable trends to be studied, the series was taken back to 2001.
Enterprise birth numbers declined during the latter three years of the series, from 65,366 in the February 2005 year, to 63,043 and then the 60,443 of the most recent year.
death numbers went from 45,753 to 46,836 and then to the February 2007 year figure of around 54,400, SNZ cautioned that the most recent deaths data was preliminary until the February 2008 snapshot was available.
Of the new businesses in the February 2007 year, 86 per cent were non-employers, while 12 per cent had from one to five paid employees, SNZ said.
In total, the new businesses had 31,000 paid employees, about 1.5 per cent of the total number of paid employees for all businesses.
The property and business services industry accounted for 43 per cent of new businesses in the February 2007 year, with the second largest category being the construction industry with 12 per cent.
Businesses that ceased operation displayed similar size and industry characteristics when compared with the new businesses. In total, the ceased businesses had 23,000 paid employees in the February 2007 year, about 1 per cent of total paid employees.
An analysis of business start-ups from prior years showed that of the 63,000 new businesses in the February 2006 year, 51,000 or 82 per cent were still operating the following year, while the remaining 12,000 ceased operation within 12 months, SNZ said.
A similar ratio had appeared for surviving new businesses - those that continued operation for at least a year - each year from 2001 to 2006.
Of the 43,000 new businesses that first started operation in 2001, 79 per cent were still operating in 2002, 57 per cent in 2004, and 40 per cent were still operating in 2007.
- NZPA