Business Outlook Survey - data by firm size (four-quarter moving averages)

Quarterly results from the Business Outlook Survey (BOS) are based on interviews with about 33 small firms, 33 medium-sized firms and 34 large firms. This page presents BOS data for each of these groups. For more information, see the backgrounder.

Firm sizes are defined as follows: small firms have 10 to 99 employees, medium-sized firms have 100 to 499 employees, and large firms have 500 or more employees. Because the responses are presented here as four-quarter moving averages, these charts may not show the same movements as the aggregate BOS data published each quarter.

Business activity

Chart 1: Past sales declines


Chart 2: Future sales growth


Chart 3: Investment in machinery and equipment


Chart 4: Credit conditions


Chart 5: Future employment level


Pressures on production capacity

Chart 6: Ability to meet demand


Chart 7: Labour shortages


Wages, prices and inflation

Chart 8: Wage growth


Chart 9: Input price inflation


Chart 10: Output price inflation


Chart 11a: Inflation expectations for small firms


Chart 11b: Inflation expectations for medium-sized firms


Chart 11c: Inflation expectations for large firms


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