Businesses report signs of stabilization in the Pacific Islands

Published by Juno ScottKelly on July 19, 2022

BusinessLinkPacific- Pacific Islands Financial Survey Infographic Covid-19 Impacts

Stabilisation in the Pacific Islands according to the latest Business Link Pacific Financial Survey results

Key findings

Most SMEs surveyed (61%) reported employee numbers have stabilised in the last 12 months.
15% of SME surveyed reported increased numbers of employees.
25% of respondents reported an increase in turnover, with 45% of these respondents reporting increases of up to 30%. The primary reasons for the increase in turnover are an improvement in business operations (51.9%) and increased business activity (54.4%).
51% of respondents reported an increase or no change in profit in the last 12 months.

Despite the global pandemic remaining a challenge for businesses across the Pacific Islands, new findings from BLP’s Pacific Island Financial Survey indicate some signs of stabilisation and improvement for small to medium-sized enterprises.

The data collected in the 2022 Financial Survey highlight that there has been a 46% reduction in the number of businesses reporting a decline in turnover (46% in 2022 Vs 86.3% in 2021) and a 43% reduction in businesses reporting a decline in profit (49% in 2022 vs 86.6% in 2021).

Most businesses surveyed (61%) also reported no change in employment numbers over the past 12 months, indicating some stabilisation in a very difficult business environment.

While profit is still lower than before COVID-19, profitability seems to be increasing. Some of the reasons given for the increase in profit include a general increase in business (64.7%), new investment (33.8%), a direct or indirect result of COVID (27.9%), and the introduction of new technologies (26.4%).

According to 50% of SMEs surveyed, they have seen improvement in their service or product offering in the last 12 months due to being able to offer new services and products to meet new market needs. Improvements reported included improved customer services, new technology, import substitution, improved visibility, and product quality.

Support from Pacific Island governments continues to play a critical role in the recovery process, with 47.3% of businesses that are currently seeking finance reporting they are seeking government support. 69.4 % reported seekinging grants, 36%bank loans and 46.9%of respondents reported seeking financial support through BLP.

The percentage of SMEs who said they had sought finance over the past 12 months increased from 34% in the 2021 survey to 41% in 2022.

One message from the SME sector remains loud and clear; the need for financial and business support is huge with a wide range of finance options being sought by SMEs.

For more information and interesting insights from the Pacific Islands Financial Survey 2022, head to https://about.businesslinkpacific.com/news-and-updates/business-link-pacific-resources/ to read the full results.