A National Statistics Publication for Scotland 
SCOTTISH CORPORATE SECTOR STATISTICS 2010
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Business/Corporate
This publication provides statistics on Scotland's business stock in 2010. The tables include information about the number of enterprises in Scotland and are broken down into various groupings including industry, company size, local authority area, and country of ownership.
The main points are as follows:
- The total number of private sector enterprises in Scotland was 296,780 as at March 2010. A 1.9% increase since March 2009.
- Unregistered firms (the smallest firms that have an annual turnover below the VAT threshold and do not have employees) accounted for the rise in the total number of enterprises. The number of unregistered firms increased by 4.6%.
- The number of registered enterprises (those registered for VAT and/or PAYE) decreased by 0.6%.
- Over the medium term (between 2000 and 2010), the total number of enterprises increased by 24.8% (over 59,000 enterprises).
- The number of small and medium enterprises ( SMEs) in Scotland was 294,525 as at March 2010. A 1.9% increase since March 2009. SMEs (0-249 employees) represented 99.2% of enterprises and accounted for 52.9% of employment and 37.4% of turnover.
- Registered private sector enterprises with ultimate ownership outside Scotland represented 3.1% of enterprises and accounted for 34.4% of employment and 56.2% of turnover. Within large firms (250+ employees) they reprsented 81% of enterprises and accounted for 61.3% of employment and 78.2% of turnover.
Table 1: Number of Enterprises in Scotland
| Size (No. of Employees) | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
|---|
| 0-49 | 232,235 | 238,060 | 246,430 | 256,940 | 266,415 | 262,030 | 261,425 | 273,735 | 276,265 | 285,425 | 290,870 |
|---|
| 50-249 | 3,350 | 3,500 | 3,490 | 3,415 | 3,345 | 3,300 | 3,480 | 3,490 | 3,575 | 3,640 | 3,655 |
|---|
| 250+ | 2,245 | 2,345 | 2,295 | 2,270 | 2,240 | 2,250 | 2,255 | 2,265 | 2,285 | 2,315 | 2,260 |
|---|
| Total | 237,830 | 243,905 | 252,215 | 262,625 | 272,000 | 267,575 | 267,160 | 279,490 | 282,125 | 291,380 | 296,780 |
|---|
All the above figures exclude central and local government.
More information and a full set of tables can be found on the publication website at the following link:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Business/Corporate
Background Notes
1. The estimates have been constructed using data from the Inter Departmental Business Register (IDBR) maintained by the Office for National Statistics, the Labour Force Survey (LFS), the Family Resources Survey (FRS) and the Survey of Personal Incomes (SPI). The IDBR extract provides an estimate of the number of enterprises registered for VAT and/or PAYE. A procedure that combines data from the IDBR with estimates derived from the LFS, FRS and SPI is used to estimate the number of unregistered enterprises (see Methodology section of the publication website for further details).
2. Although the latest data are as at March 2010 there are time lags associated with the estimates. The estimate of registered enterprises is based on a snapshot from the IDBR in March of each year (prior to 2005 the November snapshot was used). A Scottish extract provides a count of the IDBR enterprises that were "live" at the snapshot date. However, there are sometimes delays in recording de-registrations on the IDBR. Furthermore, the LFS data used to derive the count of unregistered enterprises covers the period April to March - the estimate of unregistered enterprises for 2010 is derived from LFS data from April 2009 to March 2010.
3. There are time lags associated with the employment and turnover variables on the IDBR. See the Methodology section of the publication website for more details.
4. The estimates include all enterprises that operate in Scotland regardless of whether their main UK base is located in Scotland or elsewhere. Each enterprise is however only counted once in Scotland irrespective of the number of local business sites.
5. Enterprises are classified by employee size bands on the basis of the number of their total UK employees.
6. The number of enterprises with no employees (where the enterprise is owned and managed by the same individual(s)) which are not registered on the IDBR is estimated from a combination of surveys which are all subject to sampling error. For example a yearly estimate of 10,000 taken from the Labour Force Survey has a 95% confidence interval of +/- 3,900. For this reason, year on year comparisons containing the smallest size band (enterprises with no employees) should be regarded with caution.
7. National Statistics are produced to high professional standards set out in the National Statistics Code of Practice. They undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure that they meet customer needs. They are produced free from any political interference.
Issued by:
Office of the Chief Economic Adviser
5 Atlantic Quay
150 Broomielaw
Glasgow
G2 8LU
Telephone
Communications Office: Stewart Cooper 0131-244-2175
Statistician: Marina Curran 0300-244-6813