Fewer businesses but more employed

The number of businesses active in the Bay of Plenty has declined for a third consecutive year, but the number of people employed by these businesses has increased for the first time since 2008.

Figures collected by Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) in February show there were 33,163 active businesses in the region, employing 111,110 people.

Business numbers have been decreasing since peaking at 34,346 in 2008, dropping 3.4 per cent to the 2011 figure across three years.

The number of salary and wage earners also peaked in 2008 at 113,490 and had fallen to 108,070 by February 2010. But this figure rose 2.8 per cent to 111,110 between 2010 and 2011.

Rotorua Chamber of Commerce chief executive Roger Gordon said the regional figures reflected the business movement within the chamber membership.

"Although, as an organisation, we have continued to grow, there have been a higher number of businesses that have closed down or moved away from the region. Business performance has been inconsistent between industry sectors and even patchy within sectors."

Gordon said there were companies that had done particularly well and increased their staff, but there was reluctance among many businesses to commit to employing additional staff, preferring to better use the resource they have.

"The summary of these figures and our own experience is that there is a longer-term impact from the global financial crisis, emphasised by a number of national disasters within the country, and this continues to affect business optimism."

Bay of Plenty statistics are similar to the national trend, with the number of New Zealand businesses falling 2.1 per cent from a 2009 peak of 516,223 to a 2011 total of 505,194. National employee numbers have picked up this year by 0.4 per cent.

SNZ business infrastructure and performance manager Hamish Hill said the small change in business numbers reflected a period of "mixed economic activity and uncertainty" in New Zealand and globally. New business start-ups were down 9.1 per cent, and business closures down 7.9 per cent. Overall, four out of five business start-ups survive their first year in operation, a figure which has remained stable over time. Larger businesses with 100 or more employees recorded a 1.8 per cent increase in paid employees and also reported better survival rates.

SNZ said the snapshot was taken before Christchurch's February 22 earthquake.