Australia’s 2025 Year in Review: 1,308,115 New Businesses
Breaking down founder ages, business origins, and the industries driving Australia forward
2020 - 2025 • Yearly ABN Registration Trends and Insights
1,308,115
ABN registrations in 2025
+27.3%
Average annual growth rate (last 5 years)
734,320
Yearly Average
2020 - 2025 • Yearly ACN Registration Trends and Insights
364,748
ACN registrations in 2025
+8.9%
Average annual growth rate (last 5 years)
297,064
Yearly Average
2020 - 2025 • Yearly GST Registration Trends and Insights
636,998
GST registrations in 2025
+11.5%
Average annual growth rate (last 5 years)
530,383
Yearly Average
We launched the Lawpath New Business Index to answer a simple but important question: how is entrepreneurship in Australia really evolving? For too long, conversations about small business have relied on lagging reports or isolated anecdotes. We wanted to give founders, policymakers, and industry leaders a clear, timely view of what’s actually happening.
Each month, the Index brings together verified data from the Australian Business Register (ABR) and ASIC with anonymised insights from thousands of registrations on the Lawpath platform. The result is a unique picture of who is starting businesses, where they are based, and which industries are driving growth.
Our goal is to make this information useful. Not just as a snapshot, but as a way to spot trends, challenge assumptions, and inspire action. When we understand the shifts happening in entrepreneurship, we can help shape a stronger, more resilient business landscape for Australia.
Key growth signals from the ABN registry and Australia’s latest new business registrations.
The surge in business registrations in 2025 reflects a widening of participation, not just faster growth. Lawpath data shows the increase was spread across industries, age groups, and locations, with no single sector or demographic driving the uplift. Service-led industries, digital businesses, trades, and professional services all recorded higher formation volumes, while registrations continued to expand beyond CBDs into suburban and regional areas, reinforcing the decoupling of business formation from traditional office centres.
Demographically, 2025 saw strong participation from younger, first-time founders, alongside sustained activity from older cohorts establishing consulting, contracting, and asset-holding structures. This broader mix is reflected in entity choices. Most new entrants opted for simpler, more flexible structures, contributing to the sharp rise in overall ABN registrations, while company incorporations and GST registrations grew at a more measured pace. The pattern suggests founders are entering the system earlier and committing progressively, rather than upfront.
The economic backdrop helps explain this shift. Ongoing cost-of-living pressure, elevated interest rates, and modest wage growth have increased the appeal of alternative income and self-directed work. For many, starting a business in 2025 appears less about rapid scale and more about income resilience, flexibility, and optionality. The result is a broader, more diverse cohort of Australians formalising business activity as a response to economic uncertainty, rather than a narrow surge driven by optimism alone.
A closer look at how Australia’s new businesses are taking shape, from the structures they choose to the regions driving growth.
Source: Australian Business Register – ABN Bulk Extract (annual new company registrations), accessed 9 January 2026
Explore our interactive map to see where new businesses are forming across Australia, suburb by suburb.
Source: Australian Business Register – ABN Bulk Extract, accessed 9 January 2026
Key metrics and trends from companies registered through our platform
Data sourced from Lawpath platform. See methodology for full details on data collection and analysis.
Each month, the Lawpath New Business Index captures how entrepreneurship in Australia is evolving.
Using verified data from the Australian Business Register (ABR) and ASIC, combined with anonymised insights from thousands of registrations processed through the Lawpath platform, we deliver a verified, month‑by‑month view of who is starting businesses, where they are based, and the industries they are choosing.
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Complete 2025 Review analysis with detailed breakdowns
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As the simplest business structure, sole traders are responsible for the legal and financial aspects of their business. Sole traders are required to apply for an ABN and are taxed on their individual income.
