Data / Active enterprises / South East

Active enterprises in South East

Active enterprises in South East was 431,000 in 2024, according to the Office for National Statistics (United Kingdom). That is down 0.4% from 2023.

2024, count431,000
Change on 2023-0.4%
Series high450,3802020
Series low431,0002024

Next release: Friday, 15 January 2027, estimated by Invokely from past publication dates (low confidence), not announced by the publisher. Release calendar

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Active enterprises in South East, 2019 to 2024

430K435K440K445K450K455K2019202020212022202320242019: 447,655 count2020: 450,380 count2021: 449,130 count2022: 442,295 count2023: 432,615 count2024: 431,000 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
2024431,000
2023432,615
2022442,295
2021449,130
2020450,380
2019447,655

Compared with United Kingdom

Place2024
South East431,000
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.

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, South East, 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, South East, 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/south-east-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, South East, 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/south-east-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, South East, 2019 to 2024 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/activitysizeandlocation/datasets/businessdemographyreferencetable, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/en/active-enterprises/south-east-uk (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{office_active_enterprises_south_east_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, South East, 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/south-east-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, South East, 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/south-east-uk
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/active-enterprises/south-east-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 South East?

Active enterprises in South East was 431,000 in 2024, according to the Office for National Statistics (United Kingdom). That is down 0.4% 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 South East?

450,380 in 2020, the highest value since 2019 in this series.

Active enterprises elsewhere in United Kingdom

Related statistics for South East

All statistics for South East | South East in figures