Businesses in Scotland: 2023
Information on the number of businesses operating in Scotland.
This document is part of a collection
Industry Sector
As at March 2023, the largest industry sector was 'Professional, Scientific & Technical Activities'. This had 47,645 businesses. ‘Construction’ and ‘Wholesale/Retail’ were the next largest industry sectors. These had 44,705 businesses and 36,740 businesses respectively. These three sectors accounted for 37.9% of all private sector businesses in Scotland.
These three sectors were also the largest for private sector registered businesses. As at March 2023, ‘Professional, Scientific & Technical Activities’ had 25,150 registered businesses. ‘ Wholesale/Retail’ had 24,900 registered businesses and ‘Construction’ had 22,180.
The total number of registered businesses reduced by 1,805 businesses (-1.0%) between March 2022 and March 2023. This was driven by a fall in the ‘Professional, Scientific & Technical Activities’ industry sector. This sector saw a decrease of 1,330 businesses (-5.0%).
Figure 4: As at March 2023, the largest industry sector was 'Professional, scientific and technical activities'. This had 25,150 registered businesses.
Number of registered private sector businesses, Scotland, by industry sector, as at March 2022 and as at March 2023.
Source: Businesses in Scotland 2023 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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