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

VAT or PAYE registered businesses (UK Business Counts) in Northern Ireland

VAT or PAYE registered businesses (UK Business Counts) in Northern Ireland was 81,660 in 2026, according to the Office for National Statistics (United Kingdom). That is up 2% from 2025.

2026, count81,660
Change on 2025+2%
Series high81,6602026
Series low66,6502014

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

65K70K75K80K85K2010201320162019202220262010: 68,525 count2011: 67,960 count2012: 67,490 count2013: 66,690 count2014: 66,650 count2015: 67,050 count2016: 69,095 count2017: 70,715 count2018: 73,120 count2019: 74,565 count2020: 75,180 count2021: 76,700 count2022: 77,950 count2023: 78,170 count2024: 78,930 count2025: 80,085 count2026: 81,660 count65K70K75K80K85K2010201620262010: 68,525 count2011: 67,960 count2012: 67,490 count2013: 66,690 count2014: 66,650 count2015: 67,050 count2016: 69,095 count2017: 70,715 count2018: 73,120 count2019: 74,565 count2020: 75,180 count2021: 76,700 count2022: 77,950 count2023: 78,170 count2024: 78,930 count2025: 80,085 count2026: 81,660 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
202681,660
202580,085
202478,930
202378,170
202277,950
202176,700
202075,180
201974,565
201873,120
201770,715
201669,095
201567,050
201466,650
201366,690
201267,490
201167,960
201068,525

Compared with United Kingdom

Place2026
Northern Ireland81,660
United Kingdom2,786,985

Northern Ireland 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. Northern Ireland 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), Northern Ireland, 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), Northern Ireland, 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/northern-ireland-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), Northern Ireland, 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/northern-ireland-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), Northern Ireland, 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/northern-ireland-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), Northern Ireland, 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/northern-ireland-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), Northern Ireland, 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/northern-ireland-uk
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/registered-businesses-uk/northern-ireland-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 Northern Ireland?

VAT or PAYE registered businesses (UK Business Counts) in Northern Ireland was 81,660 in 2026, according to the Office for National Statistics (United Kingdom). That is up 2% 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 Northern Ireland?

81,660 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 Northern Ireland

All statistics for Northern Ireland | Northern Ireland in figures