Businesses in Scotland: 2023

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.

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.