The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has reported a sharp decline in business turnover for the electricity, gas, water, and waste services sector in October, with figures dropping by 10.3% in seasonally adjusted terms.
Robert Ewing (pictured above), ABS head of business statistics, noted that the decline was largely driven by weaker performance in the electricity and gas supply subdivisions.
Despite this substantial fall, turnover remains above levels seen in October 2023, recording a 7.3% increase compared to the same time last year.
“The fall in the electricity, gas, water and waste services industry was driven by weaker turnover from businesses in the electricity and gas supply subdivisions,” Ewing said.
“Despite this fall, turnover is still higher than this time last year, with turnover up 7.3% compared to October 2023,” Ewing said.
Turnover in the electricity supply subdivision specifically dropped by 9.9% due to lower average prices, which coincided with strong renewable energy output, ABS data showed.
Several other industries also experienced declines in October:
However, these drops were partly offset by gains in five out of the 13 industries measured.
“The largest rises were in arts and recreation services, up 2.4%, and accommodation and food services, up 2.2%,” Ewing said.
Across all 13 industries, total business turnover fell slightly by 0.6% in seasonally adjusted terms and by 0.1% in trend terms.
Despite the monthly declines, annual turnover comparisons remain positive for most sectors. 10 out of 13 industries reported increases compared to October 2023. Notable annual rises include:
Conversely, mining experienced the largest annual decline, dropping 14.4%, ABS reported.
Read the ABS media release here. To compare the latest data with the previous month’s, click here.
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