Businesses in Scotland: 2024

Time Trends

As at March 2024, there were an estimated 358,235 private sector businesses operating in Scotland. Over the longer term, the number of businesses increased by 50.6% between 2000 and 2024. This is an increase of 120,340 businesses. A rise in the number of unregistered businesses drove this increase over the long term. Unregistered businesses have doubled (up 106.4%, +94,915 businesses) since 2000. The number of registered businesses have also increased over this period. Registered businesses increased by 17.1% (+25,420 businesses).

Figure 2: As at March 2024, there were an estimated 358,235 private sector businesses operating in Scotland. The total number of private sector businesses in Scotland increased by an estimated 5.1% over the latest year.

Private sector businesses operating in Scotland, 2000 to 2024.

Source: Businesses in Scotland 2024 from the Scottish Government.  For Figure 2 data see table ‘Time Series 1’.

Time Trends – Registered Businesses

The number of registered businesses in Scotland increased over the latest year. Registered businesses are those that have registered for VAT and/or PAYE. The number of registered businesses grew from 173,370 as at March 2023 to 174,085 as at March 2024. This is an increase of 715 businesses, or 0.4%. This is the first year to show an increase in the number of registered businesses since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the rise, between 2023 and 2024, the registered business stock still sits below the pre-pandemic peak of 179,460.

Figure 3: The number of registered businesses in Scotland increased over the latest year by 715 businesses, or 0.4%.

Private sector registered businesses, 2000 to 2024.

Source: Businesses in Scotland 2024 from the Scottish Government.  For Figure 3 data see table ‘Time Series 2’.

The number of small registered businesses (0 to 49 employees) increased over the latest year by 0.4%. This is a rise of 595 businesses. This increase is also reflected in the longer term trend. There has been an increase of 17.2% in the number of small businesses since 2000. This is a rise of 24,645 businesses.

The number of medium-sized businesses (50 to 249 employees) increased over the latest year. A rise of 70 businesses (+1.8%) since March 2023 brought the number of medium-sized businesses to 3,950. The longer term trend also reflects this increase. The number of medium-sized businesses has increased by 17.9% since 2000. This is a rise of 600 businesses.

The number of large businesses (250 or more employees) also increased over the latest year. A rise of 50 businesses since March 2023 brought the number of large businesses to 2,425. Again, the longer term trend also shows this. There has been an increase in the number of large businesses – with an increase of 180 businesses since 2000 (+8.0%).