High Level Summary of Statistics Trend Last update: Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Business Registrations
New business formation is one of the key drivers of economic growth. A high business birth rate drives up levels of innovation, competitiveness and productivity, as firms are replaced by more competitive enterprises in the important process of business churn. VAT registrations are the most reliable official indicator of business start-ups but exclude the very smallest businesses.
In 2007, Scotland had 35 registrations per 10,000 of the adult population in comparison to the UK figure of 42. Excluding London and the South East the UK figure would be 36 per 10,000 resident adults.
The Scottish Government has established a National Indicator to increase the business start-up rate.
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Source: Department for Business Enterprise & Regulatory Reform
Scotland's position in terms of these figures has changed little in the past ten years, varying between 27 and 30 registrations per 10,000 resident adults, until the substantial increase from 28 in 2006 to 35 in the latest year. However, it is likely that this increase, in part, is a reflection of a change in business behaviour in response to a recent change in tax legislation.
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Source: Department for Business Enterprise & Regulatory Reform
Note: The sharp increase in the latest year may partly reflect the impact of changes to tax rules relating to composite managed service companies in April 2007.
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