Businesses in Scotland: 2024
Information on the number of businesses operating in Scotland.
Industry Sector
As at March 2024, the largest industry sectors were 'Professional, Scientific & Technical Activities' and ‘Construction’. These sectors had 45,220 businesses and 43,270 businesses respectively. The next largest industry sector was ‘Wholesale/Retail’, with 35,140 businesses. These three sectors accounted for 34.5% of all private sector businesses in Scotland.
These three sectors were also the largest for private sector registered businesses. As at March 2024, ‘Professional, Scientific & Technical Activities’ had 25,070 registered businesses. ‘Wholesale/Retail’ had 25,045 registered businesses and ‘Construction’ had 22,495.
The number of registered businesses increased by 715 businesses (0.4%) between March 2023 and March 2024. This increase was reflected in half (9) of all industry sectors. The largest change in the number of registered businesses was seen in the ‘Construction’ industry sector. This sector saw an increase of 315 businesses (1.4%).
Figure 4: As at March 2024, the largest industry sector was 'M Professional, scientific and technical activities'. This had 25,070 registered businesses.
Number of registered private sector businesses, Scotland, by industry sector, as at March 2023 and as at March 2024.
Source: Businesses in Scotland 2024 from the Scottish Government. For Figure 4 data see table 1.
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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