Businesses in Scotland: 2023

Information on the number of businesses operating in Scotland.


Business Size

As at March 2023, there were an estimated 340,760 private sector businesses operating in Scotland. The vast majority of these businesses (98.2%) were small (0 to 49 employees). A further 3,880 businesses (1.1%) were medium-sized (50 to 249 employees) and 2,375 businesses (0.7%) were large (250 or more employees).

As at March 2023, there were 338,385 Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) operating in Scotland. SMEs provided an estimated 1.2 million jobs, which was 55.9% of private sector employment. SMEs accounted for 99.3% of all private sector businesses and 42.4% of private sector turnover as at March 2023.

Small (0 to 49 employees) businesses alone accounted for 98.2% of all private sector businesses. These provided 42.7% of private sector employment and 28.4% of private sector turnover as at March 2023.

The 2,375 large (250+ employees) businesses provided 44.1% of private sector employment. These accounted for 57.6% of private sector turnover as at March 2023.

Figure 1: As at March 2023, the vast majority (98.2%) of private sector businesses operating in Scotland were small (0 to 49 employees).

Share of businesses, employment and turnover by size, as at March 2023.

As at March 2023 the vast majority (98.2%) of private sector businesses operating in Scotland were small businesses (0 to 49 employees).

Source: Businesses in Scotland 2023 from the Scottish Government.  For Figure 1 data see table B.

As at March 2023, there were 231,735 non-employing businesses in Scotland. Businesses with no employees comprise only the owner-manager(s). Businesses with no employees made up 68.0% of all private sector businesses in Scotland. They accounted for 12.7% of private sector employment and 4.5% of private sector turnover.

As at March 2023, there were 109,025 businesses in Scotland with at least one employee (i.e. employers). Employers made up 32.0% of all private sector businesses in Scotland. They accounted for 87.3% of private sector employment and 95.5% of private sector turnover.

The total number of businesses operating in Scotland includes registered and unregistered businesses. A business must register for VAT if its annual turnover is over the VAT threshold of £85,000 (as at March 2023). A business will register for PAYE if it employs anyone. Unregistered businesses are registered neither for VAT nor for PAYE. As at March 2023, unregistered businesses represented 49.1% of all private sector businesses in Scotland.

Contact

For enquiries about this publication please contact:

Marina Curran

Business & Innovation Statistics

Office of the Chief Economic Adviser

e-mail: industrystatistics@gov.scot
 

For general enquiries about Scottish Government statistics please contact:

Office of the Chief Statistician

e-mail: statistics.enquiries@gov.scot

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