Data / Active enterprises / Dorset

Active enterprises in Dorset

Active enterprises in Dorset was 17,365 in 2024, according to the Office for National Statistics (United Kingdom). That is down 0.1% from 2023.

2024, count17,365
Change on 2023-0.1%
Series high17,4002022
Series low16,6352019

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Active enterprises in Dorset, 2019 to 2024

16.6K16.8K17K17.2K17.4K2019202020212022202320242019: 16,635 count2020: 16,680 count2021: 17,220 count2022: 17,400 count2023: 17,380 count2024: 17,365 count16.6K16.8K17K17.2K17.4K2019202120242019: 16,635 count2020: 16,680 count2021: 17,220 count2022: 17,400 count2023: 17,380 count2024: 17,365 count
count. Source: Office for National Statistics, Business demography, UK, Tables 3.1a to 3.1d: count of active enterprises by district, county and unitary authority within region and country. Retrieved 2026-10-12, published 2026-01-15.
All 6 values
Periodcount
202417,365
202317,380
202217,400
202117,220
202016,680
201916,635

Compared with South West and United Kingdom

Place2024
Dorset17,365
South West232,765
United Kingdom2,859,535

Rankings

Definition

Enterprises that had turnover or employment at any time during the year, with or without employees.

Counts enterprises, which can run several local units, under the harmonised Eurostat and OECD business demography rules. Not the same as active_companies (the INE business register count for Spain) or employer_firms (US firms with employees). For the UK it counts every enterprise active at some point in the year, so it differs from registered_enterprises_total (UK Business Counts), a snapshot of the register in March.

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How to cite

Office for National Statistics. Business demography, UK, Tables 3.1a to 3.1d: count of active enterprises by district, county and unitary authority within region and country. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/activitysizeandlocation/datasets/businessdemographyreferencetable. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

Office for National Statistics (United Kingdom). (2026). Business demography, UK, Tables 3.1a to 3.1d: count of active enterprises by district, county and unitary authority within region and country (Active enterprises, Dorset, 2019 to 2024) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/activitysizeandlocation/datasets/businessdemographyreferencetable

MLA 9

Business demography, UK, Tables 3.1a to 3.1d: count of active enterprises by district, county and unitary authority within region and country, Active enterprises, Dorset, 2019 to 2024. Office for National Statistics (United Kingdom), 15 Jan. 2026, https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/activitysizeandlocation/datasets/businessdemographyreferencetable. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/active-enterprises/dorset-uk. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Office for National Statistics (United Kingdom). 2026. Business demography, UK, Tables 3.1a to 3.1d: count of active enterprises by district, county and unitary authority within region and country. Active enterprises, Dorset, 2019 to 2024. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/activitysizeandlocation/datasets/businessdemographyreferencetable. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/active-enterprises/dorset-uk.

Harvard

Office for National Statistics (United Kingdom) (2026) Business demography, UK, Tables 3.1a to 3.1d: count of active enterprises by district, county and unitary authority within region and country, Active enterprises, Dorset, 2019 to 2024 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/activitysizeandlocation/datasets/businessdemographyreferencetable, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/en/active-enterprises/dorset-uk (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{office_active_enterprises_dorset_2024,
  author = {{Office for National Statistics (United Kingdom)}},
  title = {{Business demography, UK, Tables 3.1a to 3.1d: count of active enterprises by district, county and unitary authority within region and country: Active enterprises, Dorset, 2019 to 2024}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/activitysizeandlocation/datasets/businessdemographyreferencetable},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/active-enterprises/dorset-uk. Publisher attribution: Office for National Statistics. Business demography, UK, Tables 3.1a to 3.1d: count of active enterprises by district, county and unitary authority within region and country. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/activitysizeandlocation/datasets/businessdemographyreferencetable. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - Office for National Statistics (United Kingdom)
TI  - Business demography, UK, Tables 3.1a to 3.1d: count of active enterprises by district, county and unitary authority within region and country: Active enterprises, Dorset, 2019 to 2024
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/01/15
PB  - Office for National Statistics (United Kingdom)
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/activitysizeandlocation/datasets/businessdemographyreferencetable
L2  - https://invokely.ai/en/active-enterprises/dorset-uk
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/active-enterprises/dorset-uk.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Office for National Statistics. Business demography, UK, Tables 3.1a to 3.1d: count of active enterprises by district, county and unitary authority within region and country. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/activitysizeandlocation/datasets/businessdemographyreferencetable. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

What is the active enterprises in Dorset?

Active enterprises in Dorset was 17,365 in 2024, according to the Office for National Statistics (United Kingdom). That is down 0.1% from 2023.

Where does this figure come from?

Office for National Statistics (United Kingdom). Business demography, UK, Tables 3.1a to 3.1d: count of active enterprises by district, county and unitary authority within region and country. Retrieved by Invokely on 2026-10-12.

What was the highest active enterprises in Dorset?

17,400 in 2022, the highest value since 2019 in this series.

Active enterprises elsewhere in South West

Related statistics for Dorset

All statistics for Dorset | Dorset in figures