ABS data reveals state with strongest hospitality sector

The latest quarterly Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data on business entries and exits in Australia reveals that South Australia is the strongest state for net restaurant and café openings.

According to the report, 141 new ventures opened in the most recent quarter – representing 28 per cent of all new restaurants and cafés opening in Australia.

Overall, the number of restaurants and cafés in South Australia was 5.1 per cent higher at the end of the 2024 financial year than it was at the start of the year.

Additionally, businesses are on the rise across the board with 13,000 more small businesses operating in South Australia than at the time of the 2022 election.

In the September quarter alone, the number of businesses operating in South Australia grew by 2400.

“It is fantastic that more than 140 new restaurants and cafes have opened in South Australia – the most of anywhere in the nation,” says Andrea Micheals, South Australian Minister for Small and Family Business.

“We know that the pandemic was particularly challenging for the hospitality sector and so we have worked closely with them to support their recovery.”

The Australian Restaurant and Café Association has attributed the rise to strong support from the Malinauskas Government, including major events such as Gather Round and Liv Golf which boosted tourism numbers.

In 2024 and for second consecutive year, the Business Council of Australia found South Australia is the best place in Australia to do business.

In 2023, the South Australian Government released its landmark $14 million Small Business Strategy designed to boost local businesses and its $154 million Economic Recovery Fund designed to help hundreds of businesses to reduce costs.

The second round of the program has provided small businesses – many of them in the hospitality industry – with up to $31 million in the form of energy efficiency grants. These grants supported small businesses to invest in energy efficient equipment to help reduce their power bills.