Business

Information about Northern Territory (NT) businesses, including total business count, types of businesses and businesses by region.

You can also download the NT business count snapshot.

NT business count

Number as at 30 June 2021	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21
Northern Territory	13,930	14,243	14,540	14,947
Australia	2,208,447	2,268,998	2,314,448	2,402,254

Source: ABS Cat No 8165

NT businesses by ANZSIC division*

Number as at 30 June 2020	2019-20	% of total
Agriculture, forestry and fishing	911	6.0
Mining	93	0.6
Manufacturing	474	3.1
Electricity, gas, water and waste services	52	0.3
Construction	2,838	18.8
Wholesale trade	323	2.1
Retail trade	940	6.2
Accommodation and food services	764	5.1
Transport, postal and warehousing	1,327	8.8
Information media and telecommunications	104	0.7
Financial and insurance services	928	6.1
Rental, hiring and real estate services	1,909	12.6
Professional, scientific and technical services	1,448	9.6
Administrative and support services	752	5.0
Public administration and safety	59	0.4
Education and training	188	1.2
Health care and social assistance	855	5.7
Arts and recreation services	205	1.4
Other Services	891	5.9
Not categorised	43	0.3

* The confidentiality process will round data in such a way that the data presented at these detailed levels will not always be additive.
Source: ABS Cat No 8165

NT businesses by region*

Number as at 30 June 2020	2019-20	% of total
Darwin City	3,601	24.3
Darwin suburbs	3,797	25.6
Litchfield	1,833	12.4
Palmerston	1,728	11.7
Alice Springs	2,092	14.1
Barkly	198	1.3
Daly - Tiwi - West Arnhem	361	2.4
East Arnhem	253	1.7
Katherine	956	6.5
Currently unknown	154	1.2

* The confidentiality process will round data in such a way that the data presented at these detailed levels will not always be additive.
Source: ABS Cat No 8165

NT business size

Number as at 30 June 2020	2019-20	% of total
Small (<20 employees)	14,390	96.2
Non-employing	9,098	60.8
1-19 employees	5,292	35.4
Medium (20-199 employees)	546	3.6
Large (≥200 employees)	34	0.2
Total	14,970	100.0

* Time series data has been revised as of February 2016
Source: ABS Cat No 8165

Corporate insolvency

Number of businesses Companies entering external administration	Jul 20	Jun 21	Jul 21	Previous qtr % change	Annual % change
Northern Territory	1	4	3	-25.0	200.0
Australia	373	449	423	-5.8	13.4

Source: Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC)

Personal business related insolvency

Number	Jun 20	Mar 21	Jun 21	Previous monthly % change	Annual % change
Northern Territory
Debtor's petition	10	2	3	50.0	-70.0
Sequestration order	1	0	0	n.a.	-100.0
Bankruptcies	11	2	3	50.0	-72.7
Debt agreements and personal insolvency agreements	0	1	2	n.a.	n.a.
Australia
Debtor's petition	771	517	580	12.2	-24.8
Sequestration order	92	11	34	209.1	-63.0
Bankruptcies	863	528	614	16.3	-28.9
Debt agreements and personal insolvency agreements	167	64	77	20.3	-53.9

Source: Australian Financial Security Authority (AFSA)

Business confidence

Business index (net balance*)	Jun 20	Mar 21	Jun 21	Previous qtr ppt change	Annual ppt change
DTBI survey
Northern Territory	28	62	84	22.0	56.0

* Net balance is defined as the difference between the percentage who are confident (+) and the percentage who are worried (-).
Source: Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade NT business confidence survey

Consumer sentiment index

Index	Aug 20	Jul 21	Aug 21	Monthly % change	Annual % change
Australia	79.5	108.8	104.1	-4.3	30.9

Source: Westpac Melbourne Institute

Exchange rate

Monthly average - units of foreign currency per $A	Jul 20	Jul 21	Aug 21	Monthly % change	Annual % change
USA dollar	0.74	0.74	0.73	-1.4	-0.7
Chinese renminbi	5.04	4.77	4.74	-0.6	-6.0
Japanese yen	77.66	80.86	80.55	-0.4	3.7
Euro	0.62	0.62	0.62	-0.2	0.3
Singapore dollar	1.00	1.00	0.99	-1.5	-1.5
Trade-weighted index (May 1970 = 100)	62.60	61.60	61.20	-0.6	-2.2

Source: Reserve Bank of Australia

Last updated: 07 September 2021

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