There were around *** million private sector businesses operating in the United Kingdom in 2024, with ******* of these being construction businesses and a further ******* professional, scientific and technical businesses.
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Numbers of enterprises and local units produced from a snapshot of the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR) taken on 8 March 2024.
In 2024, agriculture contributed around 0.56 percent to the United Kingdom’s GDP, 16.74 percent came from the manufacturing industry, and 72.79 percent from the services sector. The UK is not a farmer’s marketThe vast majority of the UK’s GDP is generated by the services sector, and tourism in particular keeps the economy going. In 2017, almost 214 billion British Pounds were contributed to the GDP through travel and tourism – about 277 billion U.S. dollars – and the forecasts see an upwards trend. For comparison, only an estimated 10.3 billion GBP were generated by the agriculture sector in the same year. But is it a tourist’s destination still? Though forecasts are not in yet, it is unclear whether travel and tourism can keep the UK’s economy afloat in the future, especially after Brexit and all its consequences. Higher travel costs, having to wait for visas, and overall more complicated travel arrangements are just some of the concerns tourists have when considering vacationing in the UK after Brexit. Consequences of the referendum are already observable in the domestic travel industry: In 2017, about 37 percent of British travelers said Brexit caused them to cut their holidays short by a few days, and about 14 percent said they did not leave the UK for their holidays because of it.
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Size and growth within UK non-financial business sectors, as measured by the Annual Business Survey, by four-digit Standard Industrial Classification 2007.
15 November 2024: We have made a small number of revisions to the DCMS Economic Estimates Business Demographics 2023 report and data tables, following the identification of an error. This affects figures for Tourism Industries in 2023 in Tables 2 to 6; 2023 Audio Visual figures in Tables 2, 4, 5 and 6 and the 2022 DCMS total in Table 2.
These economic estimates are National Statistics providing an estimate of the contribution of DCMS Sectors to the UK economy, measured by the number of businesses.
In March 2023 there were 584,920 businesses in the included DCMS sectors, a decrease of 3,245 (0.6%) from March 2022. This is compared to a decrease of 1.5% in UK registered businesses overall.
In March 2023 the vast majority (87.3%) of businesses in included DCMS sectors fell into the micro (0 to 9) employment band, a slightly lower proportion than for UK registered businesses in general (89.1%).
In March 2023, 79.5% of included DCMS sector businesses had a turnover of less than £250,000, a higher proportion than for UK businesses in general (68.1%).
There were 200,600 businesses in the digital sector, a decrease of 9,090 (4.3%) from March 2022. This is compared to a decrease of 1.5% in UK registered businesses overall.
The vast majority (91.9%) of businesses in the digital sector fell into the micro (0 to 9) employment band, a slightly higher proportion than for UK registered businesses in general (89.1%).
In March 2023, 78.3% of digital sector businesses had a turnover of less than £250,000, a higher proportion than for UK businesses in general (68.1%).
These statistics cover the contributions of the following DCMS sectors to the UK economy;
Users should note that there is overlap between DCMS sector definitions. Estimates are not available for the civil society sector, because they are not identifiable in the data source used for this release.
These statistics also cover the contributions of the digital sector and telecoms to the UK economy. Users should note telecoms sits wholly within the digital sector.
The release also includes estimates for the audio visual sector, which is not a DCMS sector or digital sector but is “adjacent” to them and includes some industries also common to DCMS and digital sectors.
A definition for each sector is available in the published data tables.
We have made a number of changes to DCMS and digital sector economic estimates: business demographics in recent years:
Additional information about the change in data source from the ABS to the IDBR in 2022 can be found in the source data change summary note.
We welcome any views on these changes at evidence@dcms.gov.uk.
These statistics were first published on 16 November 2023.
DCMS economic estimates are https://osr.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/accredited-official-statistics/" class="govuk-link">accredited official statistics and published in accordance with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the https://code.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/" class="govuk-link">Code of Practice for Statistics, produced by the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA). Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. These official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for
Reported DCMS Sector GVA is estimated to have fallen by 0.4% from Quarter 2 (April to June) to Quarter 3 2022 (July to September) in real terms. By comparison, the whole UK economy fell by 0.2% from Quarter 2 to Quarter 3 2022.
GVA of reported DCMS Sectors in September 2022 was 6% above February 2020 levels, which was the most recent month not significantly affected by the pandemic. By comparison, GVA for the whole UK economy was 0.2% lower than in February 2020.
16 November 2022
These Economic Estimates are Official Statistics used to provide an estimate of the economic contribution of DCMS Sectors in terms of gross value added (GVA), for the period January 2019 to September 2022. Provisional monthly GVA in 2019 and 2020 was first published in March 2021 as an ad hoc statistical release. This current release contains new figures for July to September 2022 and revised estimates for previous months, in line with the scheduled revisions that were made to the underlying ONS datasets in October 2022.
Estimates are in chained volume measures (i.e. have been adjusted for inflation), at 2019 prices, and are seasonally adjusted. These latest monthly estimates should only be used to illustrate general trends, not used as definitive figures.
You can use these estimates to:
You should not use these estimates to:
Estimates of annual GVA by DCMS Sectors, based on the monthly series, are included in this release for 2019 to 2021. These are calculated by summing the monthly estimates for the calendar year and were first published for 2019 and 2020 in DCMS Sector National Economic Estimates: 2011 - 2020.
Since August 2022, we have been publishing these estimates as part of the regular published series of GVA data, with data being revised in line with revisions to the underlying ONS datasets, as with the monthly GVA estimates. These estimates have been published, updating what was first published last year, in order to meet growing demand for annual figures for GVA beyond the 2019 estimates in our National Statistics GVA publication. The National Statistics GVA publication estimates remain the most robust for our sectors, however estimates for years after 2019 have been delayed owing to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Consequently, these “summed monthly” annual estimate figures for GVA can be used but should not be seen as definitive.
The findings are calculated based on published ONS data sources including the Index of Services and Index of Production.
These data sources provide an estimate of the monthly change in GVA for all UK industries. However, the data is only available for broader industry groups, whereas DCMS sectors are defined at a more detailed industrial level. For example, GVA for ‘Cultural education’ is estimated based on the trend for all education. Sectors such as ‘Cultural education’ may have been affected differently by COVID-19 compared to education in general. These estimates are also based on the composition of the economy in 2019. Overall, this means the accuracy of monthly GVA for DCMS sectors is likely to be lower for months in 2020 and 2021.
The technical guidance contains further information about data sources, methodology, and the validation and accuracy of these estimates.
Figures are provisional and subject to revision on a monthly basis when the ONS Index of Services and Index of Production are updated. Figures for the latest month will be highly uncertain.
An example of the impact of these revisions is highlighted in the following example; for the revisions applied in February 2022 the average change to DCMS sector monthly GVA was 0.6%, but there were larger differences for some sectors, in some months e.g. the value of the Sport sector in May 2021 was revised from £1.
The wholesale and retail trade sector in the United Kingdom had a combined turnover of more than *** trillion British pounds in 2024, more than double that of the manufacturing sector, the sector with the second-highest turnover at ****** billion pounds.
These Economic Estimates are National Statistics used to provide an estimate of the contribution of DCMS Sectors to the UK economy, measured by the number of businesses.
These statistics cover the contributions of the following DCMS sectors to the UK economy;
Users should note that there is overlap between DCMS sector definitions and that the Telecoms sector sits wholly within the Digital sector.
The release also includes estimates for the Audio Visual sector and Computer Games sector.
A definition for each sector is available in the associated methodology note along with details of methods and data limitations.
These statistics were first published on 14 October 2021
DCMS aims to continuously improve the quality of estimates and better meet user needs. DCMS welcomes feedback on this release. Feedback should be sent to DCMS via email at evidence@dcms.gov.uk.
This release is published in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics (2018) produced by the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA). The UKSA has the overall objective of promoting and safeguarding the production and publication of official statistics that serve the public good. It monitors and reports on all official statistics, and promotes good practice in this area.
The accompanying pre-release access document lists ministers and officials who have received privileged early access to this release. In line with best practice, the list has been kept to a minimum and those given access for briefing purposes had a maximum of 24 hours.
Responsible statistician: Wilmah Deda.
For any queries or feedback, please contact evidence@dcms.gov.uk.
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Monthly index values for production and the main Index of Production sectors in the UK to four decimal places.
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The Report Covers Business Intelligence Companies UK and the Market is segmented by Organization Size (Small & Medium-scale, Large-scale) and End-User (BFSI, IT & Telecom, Retail & Consumer Goods, Manufacturing & Logistics, and Public Services). The market sizes and forecasts are provided in terms of value (USD million) for all the above segments.
In 2024, there were approximately 5.5 million private businesses operating in the United Kingdom, a slight decrease when compared with the previous year, and down from a peak of 5.98 million businesses reported in 2020. There has been a net increase of around 2.03 million business enterprises since 2000, when there were 3.47 million. During the provided time period, the largest annual rise in the number of businesses occurred between 2013 and 2014, which saw a net increase of approximately 340,000 private enterprises. Employment in the UK Of the almost 34 million people employed in the UK in 2025 almost 28 million are employed in the private sector, highlighting their key role in the UK economy. Additionally, a significant share of the UK workforce are employed by around 4,000 large companies which employ over 500 people. In 2024, large companies employed over 9.65 million people, despite only composing a fraction of the total number of UK private enterprises. During the same time period, the UK public sector employed around 6.1million people, approximately 17.9 percent of the workforce. Retail and wholesale dominate Over 4.9 million people were employed in retail and wholesale in the UK in 2024, the most of any sector. After the retail sector, administrative, and support service businesses were the next biggest employer, at just over 3.09 million people. Retail and wholesale enterprises were also responsible for the highest combined turnover of UK businesses, at more than 1.8 trillion British pounds. The sector with the most enterprises, was the construction sector with over 870,000 enterprises belonging to this industry in 2024.
For DCMS sector data, please see: Economic Estimates: Employment and APS earnings in DCMS sectors, January 2023 to December 2023
For Digital sector data, please see: Economic Estimates: Employment in DCMS sectors and Digital sector, January 2022 to December 2022
In 2019, DCMS Sectors contained 5.3 million filled jobs, accounting for 15.7% of all UK jobs. Additionally:
These Economic Estimates are Official Statistics used to provide an estimate of employment (number of jobs) in the DCMS Sectors.
These statistics cover the contributions of the following DCMS sectors to the UK economy;
A definition for each sector is available in the associated methodology note along with details of methods and data limitations.
30 April 2020
DCMS aims to continuously improve the quality of estimates and better meet user needs. DCMS welcomes feedback on this release. Feedback should be sent to DCMS via email at evidence@culture.gov.uk.
This release is published in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics, as produced by the UK Statistics Authority. The Authority has the overall objective of promoting and safeguarding the production and publication of official statistics that serve the public good. It monitors and reports on all official statistics, and promotes good practice in this area.
The responsible statisticians for this release is Rachel Moyce. For further details about the estimates, or to be added to a distribution list for future updates, please email us at evidence@culture.gov.uk.
The document above contains a list of ministers and officials who have received privileged early access to this release. In line with best practice, the list has been kept to a minimum and those given access for briefing purposes had a maximum of 24 hours.
This Annual GVA series is our most accurate estimate of Digital Sector GVA. These Economic Estimates are Accredited Official Statistics used to provide an estimate of the contribution of the Digital Sector and its associated subsectors to the UK, measured by GVA (gross value added).
This is the first release of provisional annual estimates for 2023, and Blue Book 2024 inclusive revisions to 2019 to 2022 annual estimates. The provisional Annual GVA estimates for 2023 for the Digital Sector will be revised in our next release, upon updates to underlying ABS data, and further revised in the following statistical release to include Blue Book 2025 revisions. Our next release is planned to include a full analytical report providing additional analysis on our produced GVA estimates.
This release includes a methodology update to the deflators used to remove the effects of inflation in our chained volume measure estimates. A summary of the revisions to 2019 to 2022 estimates as part of this release can be found in the accompanying revisions report.
This is a continuation of the Digital Sector Economic Estimates: Annual GVA release series, previously produced by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). Responsibility for Digital and Telecommunications policy now sits with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).
Findings in this release are calculated based on the published Office for National Statistics (ONS) https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/supplyandusetables/datasets/supplyanduseofproductsandindustrygvaukexperimental" class="govuk-link">Supply and Use Tables, ONS https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/grossdomesticproductgdp/datasets/ukgdpolowlevelaggregates" class="govuk-link">Gross Domestic Product (GDP) low-level aggregates and the ONS https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/businessservices/methodologies/annualbusinesssurveyabs" class="govuk-link">Annual Business Survey (ABS).
The Supply and Use Tables (SUT) report balanced GVA at the 2-digit Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code level up to 2022. SUT <abbr title="Gross V
In 2024, approximately 29 percent of SMEs in the UK reported that they had achieved growth in the previous 12 months, with SMEs in the retail sector, and hotels and restaurant sector the most likely to report annual growth, at 32 percent of SMEs.
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Detailed breakdown of business investment by industry and asset, in current prices and chained volume measures, non-seasonally adjusted and seasonally adjusted, UK.
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United Kingdom UK: GDP: % of Manufacturing: Medium and High Tech Industry data was reported at 47.367 % in 2015. This records a decrease from the previous number of 50.178 % for 2014. United Kingdom UK: GDP: % of Manufacturing: Medium and High Tech Industry data is updated yearly, averaging 43.770 % from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2015, with 26 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 50.528 % in 2013 and a record low of 41.974 % in 2003. United Kingdom UK: GDP: % of Manufacturing: Medium and High Tech Industry data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s UK – Table UK.World Bank: Gross Domestic Product: Share of GDP. The proportion of medium and high-tech industry value added in total value added of manufacturing; ; United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Competitive Industrial Performance (CIP) database; ;
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Business intelligence and analytics software publishers' revenue is expected to swell at a compound annual rate of 1.9% over the five years through 2024-25 to reach £884.9 million. Strong growth has been fuelled by rising business software investment, IT and telecommunications adoption, advances in computing technology and the digitalisation of business processes. This has driven the advent of big data, providing new data sets which can interface with business analytics software. Many software products, including customer relationship management and enterprise resource planning systems, have become basic tools for managing large companies. The largest publishers have pursued acquisition activity to take control of cloud companies and data analytics businesses. These industry giants are generally selective with acquisitions, embracing the switch to software as a service and adopting the low-cost cloud model. The industry has demonstrated resilience amid turbulent times, continuing on a growth path in recent years. This is primarily a result of the rapid digitisation spurred by the pandemic. As remote work became the new norm and businesses faced the necessity of managing expansive data sets efficiently, they turned to analytics software. Despite fiscal stresses, companies continued investing in software subscriptions, recognising the indispensable use of applications in a remote work environment. As such, subscriptions and sales of cloud-based software witnessed noticeable growth. Revenue is forecast to climb by 1.9% in 2024-25, with profit also expected to edge up as demand remains strong. Over the five years through 2029-30, revenue is expected to climb at a compound annual rate of 2.9% to reach £1 billion. Heightened adoption of industry-specific software among small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) is projected to fuel growth. The ongoing transition towards business intelligence apps hosted on external servers and accessible via secure internet connections – known as software as a service (SaaS) – will open up new possibilities. While workforce complications and restrictions on the freedom of movement present potential challenges, the industry's future still looks strong, characterised by a continued focus on research and development and aggressive acquisition strategies from the biggest publishers.
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Annual revisions and year-on-year changes to business turnover, approximate gross value added (aGVA) and purchases within the UK non-financial business sectors as measured by the Annual Business Survey; Standard Industrial Classification 2007 by broad industry group.
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United Kingdom UK: GDP: % of GDP: Gross Value Added: Industry data was reported at 18.574 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 17.985 % for 2016. United Kingdom UK: GDP: % of GDP: Gross Value Added: Industry data is updated yearly, averaging 20.001 % from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2017, with 28 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 27.892 % in 1990 and a record low of 17.830 % in 2014. United Kingdom UK: GDP: % of GDP: Gross Value Added: Industry data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United Kingdom – Table UK.World Bank.WDI: Gross Domestic Product: Share of GDP. Industry corresponds to ISIC divisions 10-45 and includes manufacturing (ISIC divisions 15-37). It comprises value added in mining, manufacturing (also reported as a separate subgroup), construction, electricity, water, and gas. Value added is the net output of a sector after adding up all outputs and subtracting intermediate inputs. It is calculated without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets or depletion and degradation of natural resources. The origin of value added is determined by the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC), revision 3 or 4.; ; World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files.; Weighted average; Note: Data for OECD countries are based on ISIC, revision 4.
Indicator : Economic SectorsTheme : Local Growth and PlaceSource : ONS, UK business; activity size and location Frequency : AnnualDefinition : Number of businesses registered for VAT and or/PAYE broken down by industryLatest Period : 2023Released : 2023Next Update : 2024Link : https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/activitysizeandlocation/bulletins/ukbusinessactivitysizeandlocation/2023
There were around *** million private sector businesses operating in the United Kingdom in 2024, with ******* of these being construction businesses and a further ******* professional, scientific and technical businesses.