WELLINGTON, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Small businesses, which account for one-third of all businesses, contributed 153.1 billion NZ dollars (102.6 billion U.S. dollars), or 25.3 percent, to total industry sales in the 2018 financial year, New Zealand's statistics department Stats NZ said on Friday.
"Small businesses are important contributors to the New Zealand economy," national accounts senior manager Gary Dunnet said in a statement, adding there were more than 160,000 small businesses in New Zealand in 2018 which have one to 19 employees.
Businesses with no employees, which include the self-employed, accounted for 63.7 percent of businesses and 13.6 percent of sales in 2018, statistics showed.
Two-thirds of sales in the rental, hiring, and real estate services industry came from businesses with no employees, Dunnet said, adding commercial property operators were important contributors to this industry.
Small businesses were the largest contributors to sales in the agriculture, forestry, and fishing industry in 2018, he said.
Small businesses in the construction industry made up over one-third of total industry sales in 2018, and their sales were up 87.6 percent from 2011, Stats NZ said.
Medium-sized businesses, which have 20 to 99 employees, accounted for 2.4 percent of businesses and contributed 19.3 percent to sales in 2018. Almost one-third of wholesale trade sales came from medium-sized businesses, it said.
In 2018, the number of large businesses, those with 100 or more employees, increased to over 2,000 in number. They only accounted for 0.4 percent of all businesses, but contributed 41.8 percent or 253 billion NZ dollars (169 billion U.S. dollars) to total industry sales, Dunnet said.
Large firms dominated the manufacturing industry, contributing 67.8 percent to total sales and employing over 115,000 people in 2018, he said.
