Counting cost of virus

Sales struggles persist across industries

TWO-THIRDS of businesses have collected less revenue than this time last year due to the ongoing economic impact of coronavirus restrictions, new data shows.

Education and training providers were most likely to report lower revenue, with 87 per cent of the industry doing so, according to the survey by the

Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Many of these providers have had to cancel courses due to social distancing restrictions.

Accommodation and food services providers, and information media and telecommunications businesses, were the next most commonly affected.

More than 80 per cent of providers surveyed in these industries also reported lower revenue.

The Federal Government started putting in a series of restrictions to slow the spread of the virus from February when it stopped visitors entering Australia from China, where the virus originated.

The decision devastated the education and tourism sectors, which serve many Chinese visitors.

Restrictions on outdoor gatherings and businesses’ contact with customers came into force in March, though have since been eased partially.

The extent of the drop in revenue has been severe for some traders.

More than three in every 10 businesses with less revenue said those funds fell by 50 per cent or more.

Those accommodation and food services providers with less revenue were most common to report a fall of this magnitude (63 per cent), followed by those in the arts and recreation services (60 percent).

The Federal Government has used a series of economic stimulus packages to help businesses through the pandemic.

These include JobKeeper, which supplements employee wages, and the HomeBuilder scheme, which provides grants of up to $25,000 to help people build or renovate homes.

The ABS data was compiled from 1431 businesses in the week of June 10.