Stats on COVID-19’s impact on business registrations
- Company and business name registrations increased slightly in the first nine months of 2020 compared to 2019.
- Guidance and support are available for companies and small business owners impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
- There has also been a change to the number of companies entering external administration and voluntary deregistration.
New company registrations
In the first nine months of 2020, a total of 176,592 companies were registered, a slight increase compared to the first nine months of 2019 being 172,686.
New company registrations were up 6% for January and February, but down from March to May. The largest drop was in April with 20% - the lowest monthly volume since January 2013.
Volumes were 11% higher compared to the same period in 2019.
New company registr- ations | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep |
2019 | 14,605 | 17,404 | 19,087 | 16,625 | 20,682 | 24,802 | 21,047 | 19,573 | 18,861 |
2020 | 15,064 | 18,711 | 18,357 | 13,358 | 17,752 | 26,804 | 24,017 | 20,673 | 21,856 |
Change | 3% | 8% | -4% | -20% | -14% | 8% | 14% | 6% | 16% |
Business names
In the first nine months of 2020, a total of 341,229 business names were registered. This is an increase when compared to registrations in the first nine months of 2019, being 287,232.
New business name registrations were down 4% for the January to March period. Volumes grew quickly with significant increases from April to September 2020 compared to the same period in 2019.
Business name registr- ations | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep |
2019 | 30,462 | 32,294 | 32,625 | 28,262 | 32,737 | 30,112 | 36,024 | 33,309 | 31,407 |
2020 | 29,225 | 32,276 | 29,797 | 31,249 | 39,766 | 43,088 | 48,128 | 45,086 | 42,614 |
Change | -4% | 0% | -9% | 11% | 22% | 43% | 34% | 35% | 36% |
External administration
In the first nine months of 2020, 3,828 companies entered external administration. This is a decrease compared to the same period in 2019 where 6,221 companies entered external administration.
Companies entering external administration for the first time increased 6% in February. From March this continued to decrease by larger rates, with September dropping 66%.
External administr-ation | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep |
2019 | 470 | 629 | 718 | 615 | 772 | 708 | 846 | 778 | 685 |
2020 | 397 | 667 | 683 | 410 | 429 | 364 | 373 | 275 | 230* |
Change | -16% | 6% | -5% | -33% | -44% | -49% | -56% | -65% | -66%* |
*Figures are provisional and subject to revision given time lag in lodgements of appointment by registered liquidators
Voluntary deregistration
In the first nine months of 2020, a total of 66,583 companies lodged to voluntarily deregister. This was a decrease when compared to the same period in 2019 where 67,580 companies lodged to voluntarily deregister.
From January to April, each month increased in applications to voluntarily deregister a company. During May to September, there was an overall decrease of 5%.
Applications to deregister* | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep |
2019 | 5,425 | 6,254 | 6,996 | 6,393 | 7,858 | 8,515 | 9,445 | 8,718 | 7,976 |
2020 | 5,963 | 6,587 | 7,005 | 6,477 | 6,968 | 8,674 | 9,154 | 7,950 | 7,805 |
Change | 10% | 5% | 0% | 1% | -11% | 2% | -3% | -9% | -2% |
*Volumes have been amended from article published on 17 July 2020 as a result of additional validation
More information
Advice and support are available if your company or small business has been affected by a downturn in business due to COVID-19. Visit the pages below for more information.
ASIC is Australia’s corporate, markets and financial services regulator.