Statistics of companies in UK

Companies population in Scotland

Number of companies in region Scotland is 504,421, which is 5.1% of all 9,811,485 companies in UK. Scotland is ranked 9th among 12 regions in the number of companies. Last update of company data was on 31/08/2023.

Companies location and business activity breakdown in Scotland

The region with the highest number of companies - 98,917 is Glasgow City. Orkney Islands has the lowest number of companies - 1,185. The top three most frequently registered business activities are Science - 15.1%, Wholesale, retail - 11.3% and Construction - 10.2%.

Number of companies by county 504,421 companies with data in Scotland

Glasgow City
98,917
19.6%
City of Edinburgh
90,176
17.9%
Aberdeen City
29,699
5.9%
South Lanarkshire
29,648
5.9%
Fife
24,077
4.8%
Aberdeenshire
20,904
4.1%
North Lanarkshire
20,734
4.1%
Highland
18,595
3.7%
Dundee City
16,744
3.3%
Renfrewshire
14,199
2.8%
West Lothian
12,109
2.4%
Falkirk
10,591
2.1%
Perth and Kinross
10,179
2.0%
South Ayrshire
8,914
1.8%
East Renfrewshire
8,461
1.7%
Stirling
8,417
1.7%
East Ayrshire
8,146
1.6%
North Ayrshire
7,301
1.4%
East Dunbartonshire
7,294
1.4%
The Scottish Borders
6,886
1.4%
East Lothian
6,806
1.3%
Dumfries and Galloway
6,475
1.3%
Midlothian
6,065
1.2%
West Dunbartonshire
5,377
1.1%
Moray
5,351
1.1%
Argyll and Bute
5,127
1.0%
Angus
4,995
1.0%
Inverclyde
4,663
0.9%
Clackmannanshire
2,913
0.6%
Eilean Siar
1,744
0.3%
Shetland Islands
1,729
0.3%
Orkney Islands
1,185
0.2%

Business activity overview 449,864 companies with data in Scotland

Science
75,936
15.1%
Wholesale, retail
56,876
11.3%
Construction
51,291
10.2%
Administrative
46,020
9.1%
Accommodation
40,293
8.0%
ICT
32,761
6.5%
Real Estate
31,219
6.2%
Service
29,126
5.8%
Manufacturing
22,863
4.5%
Transportation
14,516
2.9%
Arts
14,246
2.8%
Health
13,769
2.7%
Dormant
11,713
2.3%
Financial
11,374
2.3%
Education
7,787
1.5%
Agriculture
7,247
1.4%
Mining
5,132
1.0%
Energy
2,582
0.5%
Home
2,093
0.4%
Water
1,735
0.3%
Public
832
0.2%
Extraterritorial
156
0.0%

Industrial classification of companies in Scotland

The Standard Industrial Classification code (SIC code) is a system of classifying industries in UK by business activities. Each company can operate under multiple SIC codes. The top three business activities for the whole of the UK are Other business support service - 5.7%, Management consultancy exl. financial - 4.6% and Other letting and operating of own or leased real estate - 4.5%.

Distribution of companies by SIC CODE 449,864 companies with data in Scotland

Companies population incorporation and dissolution trend in Scotland

The highest number of incorporated companies in any one month is 4,112 in in March 2023. There are usually fewer dissolved companies than incorporated, the highest number recorded being for September 2020 - 6,905 companies were dissolved.

Incorporation and dissolution of companies by month Scotland

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Persons with significant control
in companies in Scotland

Persons with Significant Control (PSC) have been registered in Companies House since April 2016. PSC have various functions, e.g. ownership of shares or voting rights. In this section we analyse companies with at least one Person with Significant Control from a foreign country.

Top countries with local PSCs in companies in Scotland

The most popular country, as regards to PSC origin, is Switzerland. In August 2023, there were 1,072 companies with at least one PCS from Switzerland. Other popular countries are Ukraine, Russia and United States.

Top 10 countries with local PSCs Scotland

Percentage of companies with foreign PSCs being incorporated each month in the Scotland

The highest proportion of companies with a foreign PSC to be incorporated in one month was in October 2022 - 4.23%. Since 2017 the number of dissolutions has exceeded the number of new incorporations. The highest proportion to be dissolved in one month was 7.14% was in October 2016. The low number of dissolutions in 2016 is the result of only a small number of companies registering their PSC in Company House in that year.

Percentage of companies with foreign persons (PSC) incorporated and dissolved each month Scotland