Data / VAT or PAYE registered businesses (UK Business Counts) / London

VAT or PAYE registered businesses (UK Business Counts) in London

VAT or PAYE registered businesses (UK Business Counts) in London was 552,505 in 2026, according to the Office for National Statistics (United Kingdom). That is up 2.6% from 2025.

2026, count552,505
Change on 2025+2.6%
Series high552,5052026
Series low331,5402010

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VAT or PAYE registered businesses (UK Business Counts) in London, 2010 to 2026

300K350K400K450K500K550K600K2010201320162019202220262010: 331,540 count2011: 334,395 count2012: 359,880 count2013: 372,375 count2014: 400,930 count2015: 444,880 count2016: 476,890 count2017: 505,655 count2018: 506,180 count2019: 522,240 count2020: 531,300 count2021: 534,590 count2022: 536,065 count2023: 525,855 count2024: 530,815 count2025: 538,320 count2026: 552,505 count300K400K500K600K2010201620262010: 331,540 count2011: 334,395 count2012: 359,880 count2013: 372,375 count2014: 400,930 count2015: 444,880 count2016: 476,890 count2017: 505,655 count2018: 506,180 count2019: 522,240 count2020: 531,300 count2021: 534,590 count2022: 536,065 count2023: 525,855 count2024: 530,815 count2025: 538,320 count2026: 552,505 count
count. Source: Office for National Statistics, UK Business Counts, enterprises by industry and employment size band: all industries (ONS, Nomis NM_142_1). Retrieved 2026-10-12, published 2026-09-24.
All 17 values
Periodcount
2026552,505
2025538,320
2024530,815
2023525,855
2022536,065
2021534,590
2020531,300
2019522,240
2018506,180
2017505,655
2016476,890
2015444,880
2014400,930
2013372,375
2012359,880
2011334,395
2010331,540

Compared with United Kingdom

Place2026
London552,505
United Kingdom2,786,985

London compared with nearby places

North East: 74,495 countNorth West: 272,085 countYorkshire and The Humber: 194,070 countEast Midlands: 183,715 countWest Midlands: 219,545 countEast of England: 276,725 countLondon: 552,505 countSouth East: 412,080 countSouth West: 237,935 countNorthern Ireland: 81,660 countScotland: 176,000 countWales: 106,170 count
  • Under 120K
  • 120K to 190K
  • 190K to 230K
  • 230K to 280K
  • 280K and over
VAT or PAYE registered businesses (UK Business Counts), 2026, count. London is outlined. Same source and period for every area shown. Source: Office for National Statistics (United Kingdom). Boundaries: Office for National Statistics, Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2024.

Definition

Enterprises registered for VAT and/or PAYE on the Inter-Departmental Business Register, as at March of the year.

More on how it is measured
  • An enterprise is the smallest combination of legal units with autonomy over its decisions, counted once in the area of its registered office or main site.
  • ONS UK Business Counts (Nomis dataset NM_142_1), all employment sizes and legal statuses.
  • All industries.

Counts are rounded to the nearest 5 by ONS, so small areas and industries carry rounding error and components do not add up exactly. Businesses below the VAT threshold with no employees are not included, so this is not the total business population (the business population estimates are larger), and it is not comparable with Eurostat enterprise counts for EU countries. The year is the March snapshot: 2026 means March 2026.

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How to cite

Office for National Statistics. UK Business Counts, enterprises by industry and employment size band: all industries (ONS, Nomis NM_142_1). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_142_1.data.json?geography=2092957697,TYPE480,TYPE424&industry=37748736&employment_sizeband=0&legal_status=0&measures=20100&time=2010,latest. 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). UK Business Counts, enterprises by industry and employment size band: all industries (ONS, Nomis NM_142_1) (VAT or PAYE registered businesses (UK Business Counts), London, 2010 to 2026) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_142_1.data.json?geography=2092957697,TYPE480,TYPE424&industry=37748736&employment_sizeband=0&legal_status=0&measures=20100&time=2010,latest

MLA 9

UK Business Counts, enterprises by industry and employment size band: all industries (ONS, Nomis NM_142_1), VAT or PAYE registered businesses (UK Business Counts), London, 2010 to 2026. Office for National Statistics (United Kingdom), 24 Sept. 2026, https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_142_1.data.json?geography=2092957697,TYPE480,TYPE424&industry=37748736&employment_sizeband=0&legal_status=0&measures=20100&time=2010,latest. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/registered-businesses-uk/london-uk. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Office for National Statistics (United Kingdom). 2026. UK Business Counts, enterprises by industry and employment size band: all industries (ONS, Nomis NM_142_1). VAT or PAYE registered businesses (UK Business Counts), London, 2010 to 2026. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_142_1.data.json?geography=2092957697,TYPE480,TYPE424&industry=37748736&employment_sizeband=0&legal_status=0&measures=20100&time=2010,latest. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/registered-businesses-uk/london-uk.

Harvard

Office for National Statistics (United Kingdom) (2026) UK Business Counts, enterprises by industry and employment size band: all industries (ONS, Nomis NM_142_1), VAT or PAYE registered businesses (UK Business Counts), London, 2010 to 2026 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_142_1.data.json?geography=2092957697,TYPE480,TYPE424&industry=37748736&employment_sizeband=0&legal_status=0&measures=20100&time=2010,latest, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/en/registered-businesses-uk/london-uk (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{office_vat_or_paye_registered_2026,
  author = {{Office for National Statistics (United Kingdom)}},
  title = {{UK Business Counts, enterprises by industry and employment size band: all industries (ONS, Nomis NM\_142\_1): VAT or PAYE registered businesses (UK Business Counts), London, 2010 to 2026}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_142_1.data.json?geography=2092957697,TYPE480,TYPE424&industry=37748736&employment_sizeband=0&legal_status=0&measures=20100&time=2010,latest},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/registered-businesses-uk/london-uk. Publisher attribution: Office for National Statistics. UK Business Counts, enterprises by industry and employment size band: all industries (ONS, Nomis NM\_142\_1). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM\_142\_1.data.json?geography=2092957697,TYPE480,TYPE424\&industry=37748736\&employment\_sizeband=0\&legal\_status=0\&measures=20100\&time=2010,latest. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - Office for National Statistics (United Kingdom)
TI  - UK Business Counts, enterprises by industry and employment size band: all industries (ONS, Nomis NM_142_1): VAT or PAYE registered businesses (UK Business Counts), London, 2010 to 2026
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/24
PB  - Office for National Statistics (United Kingdom)
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_142_1.data.json?geography=2092957697,TYPE480,TYPE424&industry=37748736&employment_sizeband=0&legal_status=0&measures=20100&time=2010,latest
L2  - https://invokely.ai/en/registered-businesses-uk/london-uk
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/registered-businesses-uk/london-uk.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Office for National Statistics. UK Business Counts, enterprises by industry and employment size band: all industries (ONS, Nomis NM_142_1). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_142_1.data.json?geography=2092957697,TYPE480,TYPE424&industry=37748736&employment_sizeband=0&legal_status=0&measures=20100&time=2010,latest. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

What is the VAT or PAYE registered businesses (UK Business Counts) in London?

VAT or PAYE registered businesses (UK Business Counts) in London was 552,505 in 2026, according to the Office for National Statistics (United Kingdom). That is up 2.6% from 2025.

Where does this figure come from?

Office for National Statistics (United Kingdom). UK Business Counts, enterprises by industry and employment size band: all industries (ONS, Nomis NM_142_1). Retrieved by Invokely on 2026-10-12.

What was the highest VAT or PAYE registered businesses (UK Business Counts) in London?

552,505 in 2026, the highest value since 2010 in this series.

VAT or PAYE registered businesses (UK Business Counts) elsewhere in United Kingdom

Related statistics for London

All statistics for London | London in figures