Businesses in Scotland: 2023

Comparisons with the UK Business Stock

The structure of Scotland’s business base differs to that of the UK as a whole. Table 1 below shows that, in 2023, Scotland had a business stock rate of 728 businesses per 10,000 adults. This compares to 1,015 businesses per 10,000 adults in the UK as a whole. These rates refer to both registered and unregistered businesses. Scotland has a lower rate of small businesses compared to the UK as a whole. This is especially the case for those that do not employ others. Whereas Scotland has a higher rate of large businesses than the UK. Large businesses account for a higher share of Scotland’s private sector employment (44%), compared to the UK as a whole (39%). Note that the size bands used in Table 1 are as per the number of jobs in the business UK-wide.

Table 1: In 2023, Scotland had a business stock rate of 728 businesses per 10,000 adults. This compares to 1,015 businesses per 10,000 adults in the UK as a whole.

Number of private sector businesses per 10,000 resident adults, UK and Scotland, 2023.

Source: UK - Business Population Estimates 2023, Department for Business and Trade. Scotland – Businesses in Scotland 2023. Note that we have restricted the Scotland data in the table above to certain business types. This is to ensure as much consistency as possible between the UK and Scotland results. These business types are companies, sole proprietorships, partnerships and public corporations. The data excludes charities. The number of resident adults used for both Scotland and the UK is the 2021 mid-year population estimate. These are the latest estimates available at time of publication.