Latest figures show July 2021 saw 72 construction companies across Australia entering external administration, much fewer than usual for this time of year.

July is normally the busiest month of the year for construction insolvencies with an average of 145 construction companies entering external administration each July since 2013.

The July 2021 figure was still higher than 12 months ago, but insolvencies fell sharply compared with June 2021.

Construction insolvencies in Victoria fell by 30.8 per cent for the month.

Even though NSW spent all of July 2021 in lockdown, insolvencies also fell sharply (-40.4 per cent) compared with June 2021.

While construction insolvencies were 9.1 per cent higher than a year earlier, there was a 25.8 per cent drop nationwide compared with June 2021.

Even before July’s decline, the volume of construction insolvencies had been quite low compared with what was typical of the period since 2013.

Insolvencies had been drifting up since last year, but this process seems to have stalled.

While the actual number of construction insolvencies is quite low compared with previous years, the share of total insolvencies accounted for by construction is a little on the high side.

Construction accounted for 21.3 per cent of all insolvencies during the three months to July 2021.

This is slightly higher than the average of the past five years (19.1 per cent).

Even though the volume of construction insolvencies is quite low compared with previous years, there was still a rise of 31.3 per cent over the three months to July 2021 compared with a year earlier.

The most significant change occurred in New South Wales where 123 insolvencies were recorded over the three months to July 2021 – almost twice the level (+89.2 per cent) of a year earlier.

Other sizeable increases in the number of construction insolvencies affected Western Australia (+53.3 per cent) and the Northern Territory (+50 per cent).

Apart from NSW, the larger states of Victoria (+8.7 per cent) and Queensland (-4.5 per cent) have seen relatively modest changes in the number of insolvencies over the three months to July 2021.

A 28.6 per cent decline in construction insolvencies in South Australia over the past three months means that construction companies now account for just 13.5 per cent of all insolvencies in SA – compared with a 21.3 per cent share nationally.

In Tasmania, construction accounted for 10 per cent of all insolvencies over the three months to July 2021 – the lowest of the eight states and territories.