In 2025, auditors flagged 'going concern' warnings for 28 per cent of Australian-listed non-mining companies, up from one-in-five in 2021, according to the Chartered Accountants report.
A going concern is an auditor's note in financial statements expressing doubts that a business will be able to continue operating over the next 12 months.
The situation is worse for the mining sector, which had going concern warnings on almost half the audits, up from almost one-in-three businesses in 2021 when swathes of the nation were frequently locked down due to the pandemic.
Worse still, the data pre-dates 2026's Middle East conflict and its resulting energy price shock, which have hammered global growth hopes.
The findings have underscored how difficult business conditions have become, especially for companies that depend on ongoing access to funds, according to Chartered Accountant's ANZ report and assurance leader Amir Ghandar.
"Auditors are now flagging greater uncertainty than during the pandemic itself, which shows how sustained economic pressures around liquidity, refinancing and future profitability can be just as challenging for businesses as an acute shock," Mr Ghandar said.
Some sectors faced higher risks than others, with capital-intensive industries such as information technology, health care and mining under particular pressure.
According to a separate report from the Committee for Economic Development of Australia, fewer Australians are starting companies, with the proportion of business owners falling over the past two decades to a record low in 2025.
Aussies were "hustling, not hiring", according to the CEDA report, which found the number of new businesses without employees rose by almost a fifth, while the number of new businesses that employed staff fell by more than 10 per cent over 20 years.
With cost of living pressures continuing to bite, about 6.5 per cent of Australians worked a second job in 2025, while more than one-in-four adults earned money from a side hustle.
Significant numbers of working-age Australians and high school students wanted to work for themselves or start a business, but that was not translating into a pipeline of new businesses that could grow, hire and contribute to a more dynamic economy, CEDA chief executive Melinda Cilento said.
"If we want a more productive, competitive and resilient economy, we need to make it easier for people to turn a good idea into a growing enterprise," Ms Cilento said.
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