Source: Radio New Zealand
123RF
New Zealand small businesses have ranked last out of 11 Asia-Pacific countries in terms of their growth, for the second year in a row.
CPA Australia has released the results of its 18th small business survey. It found only 38 percent of New Zealand small businesses reported growth in 2025, up from 36 percent last year.
The average across other countries was 62 percent.
Rick Jones, CPA Australia’s regional head, said it highlighted persistent challenges.
“While small businesses across most of the Asia-Pacific are growing, New Zealand remains at the bottom of the table. In Vietnam, 84.5 percent of small businesses grew last year. In Singapore, the figure was 43.5 percent. In New Zealand, it was 38 percent. The https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside/583808/nz-s-low-productivity-is-often-blamed-on-businesses-staying-small-that-could-be-a-strength-in-2026 gap is significant and it’s not closing].”
Only 5 percent of businesses had plans for a new product or service this year, compared to 29 percent across the survey.
Only 7 percent were planning to hire this year, compared to 36 percent across the region.
New Zealand small business owners also tended to be older. Businesses whose owners were under 40 were much more likely to be reporting growth.
“Of the over 300 New Zealand small businesses that were surveyed, 68 percent of those were aged over 50.
“What we’re seeing from the survey is that those respondents aged under 40, for example, are more likely to adopt new technologies. And it’s certainly not an age thing in isolation, but we want to encourage younger New Zealanders to start a business or potentially acquire an existing one.
“But we also need a comprehensive small business strategy, to lift the overall performance… we need a comprehensive strategy to support business owners of all ages, particularly around the digital support programmes.”
But 79 percent of small business owners said they were satisfied with running their business.
“The data tells a clear story. New Zealand’s small businesses are falling behind their Asia-Pacific peers, and the gap is widening on the measures that matter – growth, innovation, technology adoption and job creation.
Businesses have been under pressure and the recent fuel price increases were another hurdle. Nick Monro
“Growth doesn’t have to mean rapid expansion. For many small businesses, it’s about having the tools and support to take the next step – whether that’s hiring another employee, moving sales online, or investing in a system that saves them time.
“Lifting small business technology adoption should be a central priority. Our data consistently shows that businesses which invest effectively in technology grow faster, hire more people and are more likely to innovate. Countries like Singapore have demonstrated what targeted digital support programmes can achieve – there are proven approaches in our region that could work here.”
Jones said businesses had been under pressure and the latest fuel price increases were another hurdle.
“It is tough and increasing costs is a challenge and that was noted even in last year’s results. And then you add that to the current fuel crisis, which is only escalating that problem.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
