Publication - Statistics

Businesses in Scotland: 2023

Information on the number of businesses operating in Scotland.

Headline results

as at March 2023, an estimated 340,760 private sector businesses were operating in Scotland
between March 2022 and March 2023, the estimated number of businesses decreased by 5.6%
over the latest year, the number of unregistered businesses decreased by 18,350 (-9.9%) and the number of registered businesses decreased by 1,805 (-1.0%)
the decrease in the business stock over the latest year was driven by a fall in the number of small (0 to 49 employees) businesses – down by 20,235 between 2022 and 2023
in contrast, there was an increase in the number of medium-sized and large-sized businesses between 2022 and 2023. There was also an increase in the number of abroad-owned businesses operating in Scotland
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

For enquiries about this publication please contact:

Marina Curran

Business & Innovation Statistics

Office of the Chief Economic Adviser

For general enquiries about Scottish Government statistics please contact:

Office of the Chief Statistician

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