Spotlight
UK business; activity, size and location: 2025
What's in the bulletin?
- There were 2.73 million Value Added Tax (VAT) and/or Pay As You Earn (PAYE) businesses in the UK as of March 2025, an increase of 0.4% from March 2024.
- The number of companies and public corporations continued to rise, representing 76.7% of total UK businesses, while the proportion of sole proprietors and partnerships fell to 19.8%.
- The largest industry group is still professional, scientific, and technical, making up 15.3% of all registered businesses in the UK.
Business demography, quarterly, UK: October to December 2025
What's in the bulletin?
- The number of businesses added (business creations) to the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR) in the UK in Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2025 was 71,935, which is an increase of 10.0% on Quarter 4 2024.
- There was an increase in business creations in 15 out of 16 main industrial groups in Quarter 4 2025, compared with Quarter 4 2024; the most significant increases came from the transport and storage, and information and communication industries.
- The number of businesses removed (business closures) from the IDBR in the UK in Quarter 4 2025 was 65,750; this figure is 3.6% lower than the number of closures in Quarter 4 2024.
Datasets related to Activity, size and location
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Business demography, UK
Annual data on births, deaths and survival of businesses in the UK, by geographical area and Standard Industrial Classification 2007: SIC 2007 groups.
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Business demography, quarterly, UK
Business births and deaths from the Inter-Departmental Business Register with high-level breakdowns by industry and region. Quarterly official statistics in development.
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UK business: activity, size and location
Numbers of enterprises and local units produced from a snapshot of the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR) taken on 14 March 2025.
Publications related to Activity, size and location
Statistical bulletins
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Business demography, quarterly, UK: October to December 2025
Business creations or births and closures or deaths from the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR) with high-level breakdowns by industry and region. These are official statistics in development.
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UK business; activity, size and location: 2025
UK businesses broken down by legal status, industry, region, employment and turnover size bands.
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Business demography, UK: 2024
Annual change in the number of UK businesses broken down by sector of the economy.
Articles
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Multiple business registrations at a single postcode, UK
Business demography explainer covering additional information on the impact of multiple registrations at a single postcode.
Methodology related to Activity, size and location
Find, compare and visualise statistics about places within the United Kingdom.