South Melbourne Business Statistics 2025
Statistical area (SA2)
VIC · SA2 206051512 · Port Phillip (SA3) · Area overview
- Actively trading businesses
- 4,899
- Population (SA2 ERP)
- 13,132
- Per 1,000 residents
- 373.1
- Business growth YoY
- 2.3%
Whole SA2, not a single suburb
- Prior year businesses
- 4,788
- Change vs prior year
- +111
- Active ABNs (mapped)
- 14,538
≠ currently trading
If you searched for a suburb, these numbers are for the whole statistical area, not a council suburb boundary. ABS publishes business and population counts at SA2, not suburb. Why SA2, not suburb?
New ABN status (12m cohort): 2,006.
Businesses by employment size
ABS CABEE employment size bands (data as at 2025-06-30)
| Employment size | Businesses | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Non-employing | 3,116 | 63.6% |
| 1–4 | 1,030 | 21.0% |
| 5–19 | 539 | 11.0% |
| 20–199 | 196 | 4.0% |
| 200+ | 25 | 0.5% |
ABN entity types
Active ABNs mapped to this SA2 via postcode (14,538). Entity type is from the ABR public extract — not the same as ABS actively trading businesses.
| Entity type | Active ABNs | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Private company | 4,619 | 31.8% |
| Individual / sole trader | 3,355 | 23.1% |
| Self-managed super fund | 2,670 | 18.4% |
| Discretionary investment trust | 1,209 | 8.3% |
| Fixed unit trust | 948 | 6.5% |
| Discretionary services trust | 587 | 4.0% |
| Partnership | 282 | 1.9% |
| Strata title | 189 | 1.3% |
| Other | 679 | 4.7% |
Businesses by industry
ABS CABEE — ANZSIC division (data as at 2025-06-30)
All industries
| Industry | Businesses | Share | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Professional, Scientific and Technical Services | 1,085 | 22.1% | -0.5% |
| Rental, Hiring and Real Estate Services | 903 | 18.4% | -0.1% |
| Financial and Insurance Services | 532 | 10.9% | 6.6% |
| Construction | 474 | 9.7% | 17.3% |
| Retail Trade | 284 | 5.8% | -4.4% |
| Health Care and Social Assistance | 281 | 5.7% | 2.9% |
| Accommodation and Food Services | 272 | 5.6% | 0.4% |
| Administrative and Support Services | 198 | 4.0% | 5.3% |
| Wholesale Trade | 152 | 3.1% | -7.9% |
| Other Services | 144 | 2.9% | 3.6% |
| Information Media and Telecommunications | 141 | 2.9% | 10.2% |
| Arts and Recreation Services | 88 | 1.8% | -5.4% |
| Transport, Postal and Warehousing | 87 | 1.8% | 8.8% |
| Education and Training | 82 | 1.7% | -7.9% |
| Manufacturing | 75 | 1.5% | -6.3% |
| Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing | 44 | 0.9% | 4.8% |
| Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste Services | 24 | 0.5% | 26.3% |
| Mining | 18 | 0.4% | 20.0% |
| Public Administration and Safety | 8 | 0.2% | 14.3% |
| Currently Unknown | 7 | 0.1% | 40.0% |
Fastest-growing industries
- Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste Services26.3%
- Construction17.3%
- Information Media and Telecommunications10.2%
- Transport, Postal and Warehousing8.8%
- Financial and Insurance Services6.6%