Australian online business insurance platform, BizCover, has unveiled its Small Business Growth Report for 2025.
The report highlights the fastest-growing and slowing small business sectors in Australia, based on a comprehensive analysis of small business insurance policy requests.
By comparing year-on-year (YoY) percentage changes, BizCover aims to help small business owners better understand the evolving business landscape and identify emerging opportunities for 2025.
BizCover Head of Marketing Sharon Kenny says, “Despite economic challenges, certain sectors have experienced impressive growth, which signals new opportunities for business owners and investors alike. By understanding these shifts, businesses can better position themselves for success in 2025 and beyond.”
Key highlights
- Emerging trends: Growing demand in 2024 for societies, associations and groups, tax services and property sectors compared to 2023.
- Australia’s top-growing small business sectors in 2024: Aged and disability care, cleaning and gardening, post-construction services.
- Sectors showing slowing growth: Surveying and data processing, web hosting, and electronic information storage Services experienced the steepest declines in both volume and percentage of new insurance requests.
Top 5 fastest-growing sectors
To uncover the fastest growing sectors, BizCover analysed the percentage increase in small business insurance policy requests from 2023 to 2024, revealing which sector had the biggest jump.
| Top 5 Fastest-Growing Small Business Sectors in Australia | ||
| Based on percentage increase of small business insurance policy requests from 2023-2024 | ||
| Rank | Sector | Percentage Increase |
| 1 | Societies, Associations and Groups | 36.2% |
| 2 | Tax Services | 34.6% |
| 3 | Property | 34.3% |
| 4 | Complementary Therapies | 32.7% |
| 5 | General Services | 31.8% |
The top three fastest-growing sectors were:
- Societies, associations, and groups – 36.2% YoY growth, may be driven by an increase in community-focused organisations and charity work.
“The significant increase in new business insurance quotes in this sector compared to the previous year could show that there is a renewed focus on social connectivity and community-minded projects that people want to get involved in,” says Ms Kenny.
- Tax services – 34.6% growth, could reflect a growing demand for financial expertise amid complex economic conditions.
- Property – 34.3% growth, suggesting strong demand for residential and commercial property investments.
Top 5 growing small business sectors by volume of requests in 2024
With over 70 small business sectors analysed and focussing on the volume of small business insurance requests throughout 2024, BizCover has identified which sectors experienced the most growth when compared to others.
“This is a useful indicator of industry growth trends based on internal data,” Ms Kenny said. “Simply put, more new business insurance requests correlates to more new small businesses.”
| Top 5 Growing Small Business Sectors in Australia | |
| Based on volume of small business insurance policy requests in 2024 | |
| Rank | Sector |
| 1 | Aged and Disability Care |
| 2 | Cleaning and Gardening |
| 3 | Post-Construction Services |
| 4 | Allied Health |
| 5 | Business Consultants |
The top three growing sectors were:
- Aged and disability care – This points to a notable rise in the number of new businesses entering the sector.
“This is not an entirely surprising outcome, given that the NDIS already supports over 640,000 participants and continues to grow rapidly,” Ms Kenny said.
- Cleaning and gardening – This surge could be driven by the increased demand from time-pressed households, as well as an ageing population and government support for these services.
“With fewer older Australians looking to move into assisted living, there is increased demand for assistance with house-related tasks and further fuelling demand is the fact that government support programs like the NDIS and aged care services that subsidise these essential services,” Ms Kenny said.
- Post-construction services – This suggests a shift towards more specialised post-construction tasks rather than traditional building services.
Top 5 sectors showing slowing growth
While some sectors saw booming growth in 2024, others saw a decline in small business insurance requests compared to the previous year. This could reflect recent shifts in technology trends, consumer preferences, the cost-of-living crisis and industry demands.
| Top 5 Sectors Showing Slowing Growth | ||
| Based on percentage change of small business insurance policy requests from 2023-2024 | ||
| Rank | Sector | Percentage Increase |
| 1 | Surveying | -15.7% |
| 2 | Data processing, web hosting and electronic information storage services | -15.4% |
| 3 | General Retail | -9.8% |
| 4 | Tertiary Education | -6.9% |
| 5 | Wood and Paper Manufacturing | -6.7% |
The top two sectors showing the least growth were:
- Surveying – This is potentially due to a slowdown in infrastructure projects and a shift towards firms that offer bundled services like engineering, construction management, and environmental assessments alongside surveying.
- Data processing, web hosting and electronic information storage services – This is likely due to the rise of automation and the dominance of large cloud providers. Smaller businesses are facing increased competition from large cloud providers and automated services that dominate the market.
These two sectors not only experienced the largest declines compared to 2023, but also recorded the lowest overall volume of requests in 2024 across all 70+ sectors analysed.
Top 5 slowing small business sectors in Australia by volume of requests
| Top 5 Slowing Small Business Sectors in Australia | |
| Based on volume of small business insurance policy requests in 2024 | |
| Rank | Sector |
| 1 | Data processing, web hosting and electronic information storage services |
| 2 | Surveying |
| 3 | Printing |
| 4 | Utilities |
| 5 | General Trades |
However, declining sectors still offer unique opportunities for entrepreneurs.
“Even a shrinking industry can present unique business opportunities for those willing to take on the challenge,” Ms Kenny said.
Here are some ways to capitalise on market shrinkage:
- Data processing, web hosting, and electronic information storage services: Specialise in niche markets, like healthcare, to become a go-to provider.
- Surveying: Diversify into sustainable planning or advanced geospatial technologies, areas where there is growing demand due to environmental concerns and smart city initiatives.
- Printing: Shift to sustainable, eco-friendly practices to help clients reduce their environmental impact while meeting their needs.
Looking ahead to 2025: Opportunities for Aussie business owners
As sectors like societies, associations, and groups continue to surge, alongside the steady demand for aged and disability care, the coming years may offer significant opportunities for Australian business owners to explore.
Tracking which small business sectors are growing or slowing allows entrepreneurs to predict trends, prepare for challenges, and safeguard their interests.
“Rather than being intimidated by the growth or decline in their sectors, small business owners should utilise times of change by leveraging these shifts to build on their strengths,” Ms Kenny said.
“Focusing on what makes your business stand out—whether that’s offering a specialised service or reaching a niche audience—can help position you for long-term success.
Another way that many small business owners choose to protect their businesses is by purchasing business insurance.”
