Insurance and financial services have bucked a business downturn to grow their numbers until the end of the 2009 financial year.

Securing its place alongside mining, healthcare and social assistance as one of the only growth areas in the economy, insurance and finance held its ground to record a 0.6% increase in the number of businesses operating, according to the latest “business survival” figures issued by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

It says 148,382 insurance and finance companies started fiscal 2009, but 23,450 left only to be replaced by another 24,287.

It’s the second year in a row the insurance and finance sectors have growth their numbers, although growth rates have stalled since 2007/08.

In fiscal 2008, 142,985 businesses commenced the year in insurance and finance. By the end of the year the number of operators in the sector had grown by 5397 – the largest spike of any industry.

The total number of Australian businesses in 2008/09 fell by 1% to 2.051 million, with only three of 18 selected industries registering gains.

Survival rates in business remain strong, with 73.6% of all businesses operating in June 2007 operating in June 2009. The survival rate for insurance and finance was on par for the economy at 73.5%.