The credit reporting agency’s latest research has shone a light on the major forces that continue to impact both businesses and consumers.
Insolvencies have remained at elevated levels in the latest cut of data from CreditorWatch, revealing a 1.6 per cent increase in seasonally adjusted terms to 1,101.
The credit reporting agency’s Business Risk Monitor for September 2025 shows insolvencies have declined in recent months, dropping 13.2 per cent between July and August.
On a quarterly basis, insolvencies have fallen by around 20 per cent compared with the same period last year, though they remain elevated in trend terms.
CreditorWatch reported declines in the sectors that recorded the highest number of insolvencies last year, with construction falling 4 per cent and accommodation and food services down 19 per cent. However, the agency also flagged a rise in insolvencies in transport, postal, and warehousing, which it attributed to higher operating costs, elevated interest rates, and increased competition from foreign-backed firms using low-cost labour.
CreditorWatch’s Small Business Risk Index also made for interesting reading, with business failure rates currently 15.1 per cent higher than the 10-year average.
This figure was up from 12.0 per cent reported in August.
Failure rates remain high in administrative and support services, as well as transport, postal, and warehousing, while manufacturing has seen a sharp recent increase.
In contrast, the lowest failure rates are observed in financial and insurance services, with agriculture, forestry, and fishing and rental, hiring, and real estate services remaining relatively resilient.
Ivan Colhoun, CreditorWatch’s chief economist, said the data shone a light on the struggles business and consumers continued to have to contend with.
“Businesses and consumers continue to be impacted by many large forces occurring simultaneously, with significant uncertainty related to US trade and tariff policy, geopolitics and the rise of AI,” he said.
“At the same time, higher costs – both of living and of doing business – present significant budgetary challenges, while it’s too early for the most recent interest rate reductions to be having much effect.
“While continued price growth is a challenge for the RBA, emerging slower employment growth should dominate its thinking, given the lags involved in relation to the impacts of monetary policy changes.”
[Related: Insolvencies in the retail sector to increase: CreditorWatch]
