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Corporate Sector Statistics 2009
29/10/2009
Scotland's Chief Statistician today released the Scottish Corporate Sector Statistics 2009. The publication includes key statistics on the number of businesses in Scotland with associated employment and turnover.
The main findings are:
- The total number of private sector enterprises in Scotland was 291,380 as at March 2009. A 3.3 per cent increase since March 2008.
- Over the medium term (between 2000 and 2009), the total number of enterprises has increased by 22.5 per cent (over 50,000 enterprises).
- The number of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Scotland increased by 3.3 per cent to 289,065. SMEs accounted for 99.2 per cent of enterprises and 52.8 per cent of employment.
- Registered enterprises with ultimate ownership outside Scotland accounted for 3.1 per cent of businesses and 35.3 per cent of employment.
The latest figures relate to the position as at March 2009. However, there are time lags associated with the data, see the Methodology section of the publication for more details.
Data on VAT/PAYE registered enterprises are taken from a snapshot of the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR) - the latest figures are from a snapshot in March 2009. However, there are time delays in the recording of registrations and de-registrations. Furthermore, the estimate for unregistered firms is based on data covering the period April 2008 to March 2009. Therefore the impact of the current economic climate is not yet fully captured within these figures.
The estimates include enterprises that operate in Scotland irrespective of whether their head office is located in Scotland or elsewhere. Enterprises are classified by employee size bands on the basis of the number of their total UK employees.
Official statistics are produced by professionally independent statistical staff.