Business turnover fell 0.1 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms in May 2025, according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Robert Ewing, ABS head of business statistics, said: 'This is the first fall in monthly business turnover since October 2024.
'The Arts and recreation services industry had the largest fall, down 5.5 per cent. The Gambling activities subdivision drove this drop with a fall of 11.2 per cent, following a rise in April.
'Other notable falls were for Manufacturing, down 1.3 per cent, and Retail trade, down 0.8 per cent.'
'Softening the fall, we saw rises in Electricity, gas, water and waste services, up 1.7 per cent, and Wholesale trade, up 1.1 per cent,' Mr Ewing said.
| April 2025 to May 2025 (%) | May 2024 to May 2025 (%) | |
|---|---|---|
| Electricity, gas, water and waste services | 1.7 | 4.6 |
| Wholesale trade | 1.1 | 5.1 |
| Accommodation and food services | 1.0 | 11.9 |
| Professional, scientific and technical services | 0.4 | 5.7 |
| Administrative and support services | 0.4 | 2.5 |
| Information media and telecommunications | 0.2 | 6.5 |
| Transport, postal and warehousing | 0.1 | 6.6 |
| Other services | 0.0 | 8.2 |
| Mining | -0.5 | -4.6 |
| Construction | -0.7 | 4.3 |
| Retail trade | -0.8 | -0.3 |
| Manufacturing | -1.3 | 8.5 |
| Arts and recreation services | -5.5 | -3.7 |
| 13-industry aggregate | -0.1 | 3.3 |
Compared to May 2024, turnover was higher for 10 of the 13 industries included in the indicator. Business turnover was 3.3 per cent higher than in May 2024.
The industries that saw the largest annual rises were Accommodation and food services (+11.9 per cent) and Manufacturing (+8.5 per cent).
Meanwhile, the Mining industry (-4.6 per cent) and Arts and recreation services (-3.7 per cent) saw annual falls.
In trend terms, the 13-industry aggregate showed a 0.1 per cent rise in business turnover in May.
