UK Business Counts by Detailed Industry and Geographic Area

Estimates of the total number of businesses in London and Great Britain, broken down by detailed industry classification and geographic granularity. The data is compiled from the Inter Departmental Business Register (IDBR) and provides counts of local units (workplaces) live at a reference date in March, rounded to the nearest 100. The dataset is produced by the Greater London Authority and was last updated on 2026-06-24.

Use Cases

• Analyze industry concentration and business density based on detailed SIC 2007 codes.
• Model regional economic activity based on business counts available down to mid-layer super output areas.
• Benchmark employment size band distributions across different industries and legal statuses.

Strengths

• Data is available at multiple geographic levels, from country down to mid-layer super output areas and Scottish intermediate zones.
• Industry breakdown uses detailed 2, 3, 4, and 5-digit SIC 2007 codes for granular analysis.
• Estimates can be broken down by employment size band and legal status, providing multiple analytical dimensions.

Limitations

• Data excludes farm-based agriculture contained in SIC class 0100, limiting agricultural sector analysis.
• Row count and column-level documentation are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is rounded to the nearest 100, which may obscure precise counts for small business categories.

Provenance

Source

Inter Departmental Business Register (IDBR), via the Annual Business Inquiry (ABI) sample.

Collection Method

Extract compiled from the IDBR recording local units live at a reference date in March; estimates are based on a sample of approximately 78,000 businesses.

Time Range

Reference date is in March of each year; specific year range is not provided.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-24 21:09:42.207087; freshness should be verified.

Geography

London and Great Britain, with breakdowns available from country level down to mid-layer super output areas and Scottish intermediate zones.