Non-farming business numbers up 4 per cent

The number of non-farming businesses in New Zealand increased 4 per cent to 346,000 in February this year from a year earlier, Statistics New Zealand said today.

In the previous year the increase was 3 per cent.

The increase resulted largely from the property and business services sector, which represents 36 per cent of all enterprises in this country, and where numbers rose 5900.

The second largest increase was in the construction sector where numbers were up 2300.

Of the new businesses, 83 per cent in the property and business services sector were non-employing, as were 52 per cent of those in construction, SNZ said.

Among non-farming businesses, 96 per cent had fewer than 20 employees, and in total that group accounted for less than a third of all New Zealand employees.

Ninety-seven per cent of the annual growth in business numbers came from businesses with fewer than 10 employees.

The business demography statistics exclude businesses engaged in farming, and generally exclude businesses with GST turnover of less than $30,000 a year.

- NZPA