Numbers of enterprises and local units produced from a snapshot of the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR) taken on 8 March 2024.

The UK Business Data Survey (UKBDS), commissioned by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, began in 2021. The survey is a telephone- and online-based quantitative and qualitative study of UK businesses. It gathers evidence on the importance and awareness of digital data use for UK businesses and seeks to understand the role of digital data in UK businesses, international transfers of data and activities undertaken for data protection compliance.

The 2022 UKBDS was the second time the survey had been carried out. The quantitative survey took place from November 2021 to February 2022 and the qualitative interviews were undertaken in February 2022. A number of questions asked of businesses were new to the 2022 survey.

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.

Summary statistics of business dynamism taken from the Longitudinal Business Database (LBD), UK.

In 2024, there were approximately 870,040 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the construction sector in the United Kingdom, the most of any sector in that year. The sector with the second-highest number of SMEs was the Professional, Scientific and Technical activities sector, at 754,520 SMEs.

In 2024, there were approximately **** million small and medium-sized enterprises operating in the United Kingdom. Micro-sized enterprises that employ up to nine people constitute the majority of SMEs in the UK, at over **** million. Enterprises that have between 10 and 49 employees are classed as small enterprises, and numbered around ******* in the UK, while there were ****** medium-sized enterprises.

The Business Structure Database (BSD) contains a small number of variables for almost all business organisations in the UK. The BSD is derived primarily from the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR), which is a live register of data collected by HM Revenue and Customs via VAT and Pay As You Earn (PAYE) records. The IDBR data are complimented with data from ONS business surveys. If a business is liable for VAT (turnover exceeds the VAT threshold) and/or has at least one member of staff registered for the PAYE tax collection system, then the business will appear on the IDBR (and hence in the BSD). In 2004 it was estimated that the businesses listed on the IDBR accounted for almost 99 per cent of economic activity in the UK. Only very small businesses, such as the self-employed were not found on the IDBR.

The IDBR is frequently updated, and contains confidential information that cannot be accessed by non-civil servants without special permission. However, the ONS Virtual Micro-data Laboratory (VML) created and developed the BSD, which is a 'snapshot' in time of the IDBR, in order to provide a version of the IDBR for research use, taking full account of changes in ownership and restructuring of businesses. The 'snapshot' is taken around April, and the captured point-in-time data are supplied to the VML by the following September. The reporting period is generally the financial year. For example, the 2000 BSD file is produced in September 2000, using data captured from the IDBR in April 2000. The data will reflect the financial year of April 1999 to March 2000. However, the ONS may, during this time, update the IDBR with data on companies from its own business surveys, such as the Annual Business Survey (SN 7451).

The data are divided into 'enterprises' and 'local units'. An enterprise is the overall business organisation. A local unit is a 'plant', such as a factory, shop, branch, etc. In some cases, an enterprise will only have one local unit, and in other cases (such as a bank or supermarket), an enterprise will own many local units.

For each company, data are available on employment, turnover, foreign ownership, and industrial activity based on Standard Industrial Classification (SIC)92, SIC 2003 or SIC 2007. Year of 'birth' (company start-up date) and 'death' (termination date) are also included, as well as postcodes for both enterprises and their local units. Previously only pseudo-anonymised postcodes were available but now all postcodes are real.

The ONS is continually developing the BSD, and so researchers are strongly recommended to read all documentation pertaining to this dataset before using the data.

Linking to Other Business Studies
These data contain IDBR reference numbers. These are anonymous but unique reference numbers assigned to business organisations. Their inclusion allows researchers to combine different business survey sources together. Researchers may consider applying for other business data to assist their research.

Latest Edition Information
For the sixteenth edition (March 2024), data files and a variable catalogue document for 2023 have been added.

This publication provides the only official government statistics that attempt to the estimate the total number of UK private sector businesses in the UK and their contribution to employment and turnover. Also provided is an estimate of the total number of businesses in the UK whole economy. The publication supercedes the publication 'Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Statistics for the UK and Regions'. National Statistics

In 2024, the vast majority of private business enterprises in the United Kingdom were those with zero employees, with just ***** businesses that employed more than 1,000 people.

Annual estimates of foreign-owned businesses by industry group, section, employment and turnover group, and country breakdown.

In 2024, there were estimated to be around 3.17 million business sites, or local units for VAT/PAYE based enterprises in the United Kingdom, compared with 3.22 million in the previous year.

This dataset provides comprehensive insights into business exit trends among Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the United Kingdom for the year 2025. It encompasses data from a survey of 29,965 SME owners, highlighting key factors influencing business exits, preferred exit strategies, and the economic impact of these exits.

Presents the number of enterprises (businesses) in the UK along with the turnover and employment in these enterprises. Source agency: Business, Innovation and Skills Designation: National Statistics Language: English Alternative title: SME Statistics