High Level Summary of Statistics Trend Last update: Thursday, December 15, 2011
Business Registrations
New business formation is one of the key drivers of economic growth. A high business birth rate drives up levels of innovation, competitiveness and productivity, as firms are replaced by more competitive enterprises in the important process of business churn. VAT/PAYE registrations are the most reliable official indicator of business start-ups but exclude the very smallest businesses.
In 2010, Scotland had 36 registrations per 10,000 of the adult population in comparison to the UK figure of 46. Excluding London and the South East, the UK figure would be 39 per 10,000 resident adults.
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Source: Office for National Statistics
Scotland's position in terms of these figures has varied over the past seven years, fluctuating between 34 and 43 registrations per 10,000 resident adults. The 2010 registration rates were the lowest since the series began for all regions of the UK except Scotland, London and Northern Ireland.
The figures showed a substantial increase between 2006 and 2007. However, it is likely that this increase, in part, was a reflection of a change in business behaviour in response to a change in tax legislation in 2007 and therefore was not sustained in 2008.
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Source: Office for National Statistics
Note: The source for measuring business registrations changed in 2009 from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform VAT-only series to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) VAT/PAYE series. The information above is based on the new ONS VAT/PAYE series.
Further Information
ONS Business Demography: Business Births and Deaths