Business statistics

As of 1 January 2025, there were 5.7 million private sector businesses in the UK. This was a 3.5% increase from January 2024.

The number of businesses increased by 64% from 2000 to 2025. The business population fell 6.5% between 2020 and 2021, and has been broadly unchanged since 2021.

The charts below show the change in the number of businesses since 2000 and the proportion of businesses, jobs and turnover by business size.

Source: DBT, Business population estimates 2025

Businesses by size

Most businesses in the UK are small businesses, but the small number of large businesses support a high proportion of jobs and turnover.

There were 5.7 million SMEs in the UK in 2025, including 5.4 million micro businesses. This means that 99.9% of all businesses in the UK were SMEs, including the 95% which were micro businesses.

Businesses by location

Just over a third of UK businesses are in London and the South East. The Library dashboard Constituency data: businesses and industries provides the number of businesses by parliamentary constituency.

Businesses by sector

The largest sectors in terms of number of businesses were construction (which made up 15.8% of all businesses in 2025), professional, scientific and technical services (13.7%), and wholesale and retail (10.2%).

Business openings and closures

In 2024, 317,000 businesses opened in the UK and 280,000 businesses closed. The business birth rate (the proportion of active businesses that began trading in the reporting year) was 11.1%, similar to 2023. The business death rate (the proportion of active businesses that ceased trading in the reporting year) was 9.8%, the lowest since 2016.

Women in business

In 2024, 14% of SMEs with employees were led by women (either one woman or a majority female management team), according to the government’s annual Small Business Survey. This is down from 15% in 2023 and similar to figures since 2015.

Around 10% of women in the UK economy were early-stage entrepreneurs in 2023, compared to around 12% of men. 42.8% of FTSE 100 directorships were occupied by women in January 2025.

Ethnicity of business leaders

The ONS has estimated that in 2024 around 11% of UK self-employed business owners identify as being from a minority ethnic group. Around 19% of non-White people in the UK economy were early-stage entrepreneurs in 2023, compared to around 9% of White people.

Of the UK’s small and medium-sized enterprises with employees, 6% were led by people from a minority ethnic group in 2024. 19% of FTSE 100 directorships were held by minority ethnic directors in 2024.