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

VAT or PAYE registered businesses (UK Business Counts) in South East

VAT or PAYE registered businesses (UK Business Counts) in South East was 412,080 in 2026, according to the Office for National Statistics (United Kingdom). That is up 1.8% from 2025.

2026, count412,080
Change on 2025+1.8%
Series high420,1852021
Series low328,0152011

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

320K340K360K380K400K420K440K2010201320162019202220262010: 330,375 count2011: 328,015 count2012: 337,810 count2013: 339,965 count2014: 352,725 count2015: 377,445 count2016: 392,085 count2017: 403,680 count2018: 404,555 count2019: 414,975 count2020: 418,370 count2021: 420,185 count2022: 412,650 count2023: 404,840 count2024: 404,360 count2025: 404,910 count2026: 412,080 count325K350K375K400K425K2010201620262010: 330,375 count2011: 328,015 count2012: 337,810 count2013: 339,965 count2014: 352,725 count2015: 377,445 count2016: 392,085 count2017: 403,680 count2018: 404,555 count2019: 414,975 count2020: 418,370 count2021: 420,185 count2022: 412,650 count2023: 404,840 count2024: 404,360 count2025: 404,910 count2026: 412,080 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
2026412,080
2025404,910
2024404,360
2023404,840
2022412,650
2021420,185
2020418,370
2019414,975
2018404,555
2017403,680
2016392,085
2015377,445
2014352,725
2013339,965
2012337,810
2011328,015
2010330,375

Compared with United Kingdom

Place2026
South East412,080
United Kingdom2,786,985

South East 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. South East 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), South East, 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), South East, 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/south-east-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), South East, 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/south-east-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), South East, 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/south-east-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), South East, 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/south-east-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), South East, 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/south-east-uk
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/registered-businesses-uk/south-east-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 South East?

VAT or PAYE registered businesses (UK Business Counts) in South East was 412,080 in 2026, according to the Office for National Statistics (United Kingdom). That is up 1.8% 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 South East?

420,185 in 2021, the highest value since 2010 in this series.

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

Related statistics for South East

All statistics for South East | South East in figures