Business turnover in Australia dropped by 0.7% in August, according to ABS.
The decline was primarily driven by a significant fall in the mining sector, which saw a 3.5% decrease.
Robert Ewing (pictured above), ABS head of business statistics, explained the impact of the mining sector.
“The fall in business turnover was driven by a 3.5% fall in mining,” Ewing said. “This came as oil and gas extraction businesses reported lower turnover after a strong result in July. Iron ore mining, which continues to be impacted by price falls, also contributed to the lower turnover.”
Other notable declines came from the information media and telecommunications sector, which saw a 2.9% drop, largely due to reduced activity in the Publishing subdivision.
Despite the overall decline, some sectors showed positive results. Other services rose by 1.5%, construction increased by 1.3%, and the electricity, gas, water, and waste services sector grew by 1.2%, ABS reported.
In trend terms, the 13-industry aggregate showed a slight increase of 0.1% in business turnover for August.
Compared to August 2023, all sectors except mining experienced higher turnover, with mining falling 5.9% year-over-year.
Industries with the largest annual growth included electricity, gas, water and waste services (17.6%) and information, media, and telecommunications (8.6%), ABS data showed.
For more details, read the ABS media release. Compare the latest figures with those of the previous month.
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