Business performance benchmarker 2025

About financial data Financial data source We calculated the financial statistics using the Annual Enterprise Survey (AES). AES is New Zealand's most comprehensive source of financial statistics. It provides annual information on the financial performance and financial position for industry groups operating within New Zealand. Data is sourced from Inland Revenue tax data, a Stats NZ postal survey, and from Charities Services. See Annual Enterprise Survey – DataInfo+ for information on data sources, population, and survey design. Data for 2023 is final, data for 2024 and 2025 is provisional. Industry classification We used the ANZSIC06 (Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification 2006) system to identify industries. Businesses can have operations in more than one industry and how companies structure themselves can affect where the data is captured. A businesses industry classification is determined by its predominant activity. Accuracy Most of the data is below the design-level of the AES and is not covered by our quality assurance processes. To give an indication of the accuracy of this data, we have included an indicator based on both sample error and the aggregated industry level that is covered by our quality checks. Some of the financial data is based on a sample of businesses and therefore has sampling error associated with them. The random nature of the sample selection process introduces variability into the survey results which is measured as sampling error. You will find an indication of the quality under the ‘Accuracy_category’ column. The categories are: Caution: use this data with caution as it is not covered by our quality checks. (Indicates the industry has a sampling error of less than 30 percent.) Caution: use this data with caution as it has high sample errors and is not covered by our quality checks. (Indicates the industry has a sampling error of between 30 and 50 percent.) Suppressed: data is suppressed due to very high sample errors. (Indicates an industry where the sampling error is greater than 50 percent - suppressed variables are marked with an ‘S’.) Suppressed: data is suppressed due to quality concerns (Suppressed variables are marked with an ‘S’.) Good: this data has been covered by our quality checks. Confidentiality We apply confidentiality methods to data to prevent individual businesses from being identified. Confidentialised variables are marked with a ‘C’. Business count Business counts are sourced from business demography statistics, which give an annual snapshot (as at February) of the structure and characteristics of New Zealand businesses. We define a business as an enterprise that is a company, partnership, trust, estate, incorporated society, producer board, voluntary organisation, or self-employed individual operating in New Zealand. Employee count Employee counts are sourced from business demography statistics, which give an annual snapshot (as at February) of the structure and characteristics of New Zealand businesses. The total employee count within the selected industry is displayed. Note that some industries may have employee counts that are quite variable over the course of a year, so use these numbers with caution. Note: Consistent with AES Financial data, business and employee counts exclude Non-market government units (Institutional sector 3) and Households (Institutional sector 5). Non-market government units include central government institutions, funded social insurance schemes and local government institutions. About benchmark ratios Benchmark ratios availability Of the 483 industries, 228 industries have a sufficient number of businesses to calculate reliable ratios. For example, there are four turnover (total income) bands, and each must have a minimum number of units (30) to meet confidentiality and quality requirements. If one band fails this requirement, no data is published for any of the bands within that industry. Benchmark ratios data source Benchmark data are calculated using Inland Revenue tax data. All businesses supplying financial statements and tax returns are included where the turnover (total income) for those businesses is between $60,000 and $10 million. We provide benchmark ratios at the mid-points (medians), the 25th and 75th percentile (Interquartile ranges). Half the businesses in a turnover band will be below the mid-point (or median), and half will be above. One quarter of the businesses in a turnover band will be below the 25th percentile and one quarter will be above the 75th percentile. Size bands We calculate size bands based on turnover. We produce four even quarters of the industry population based on the number of businesses to help you find the most comparable indicators for your business size (i.e. micro, small, medium, or large). A minimum of 30 responding units in each quartile (120 per industry) is required for an industry’s ratios to be published. Industry classification We used the ANZSIC06 (Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification 2006) system to identify industries. Interpreting the ratios Benchmark ratios are produced from the unit(s) that are located at the median (50th percentile), at the first quartile (25th percentile), and the third quartile (75th percentile). The range of values between quartile 1 and quartile 3 is known as the interquartile range. The interquartile range enables users who are benchmarking their business against these figures to see if the differences between their ratio and the benchmark ratios are relatively large (outside the interquartile range) or relatively small (within the interquartile range). Note: Users should be aware that businesses can have operations classified into more than one industry which can affect the industry financial ratios produced. These ratios should be used with caution. en