Business birth, deaths, and survivals demography

Release date:
28 August 2024

FOI ref: FOI-2024-2177

You asked

Firstly we have sourced the table 'Analysis showing the count, employment and employees of VAT and/or PAYE based local units in regions of the United Kingdom for UK SIC 2007 divisions 10 and 11' (ah1089 Link - Food and drink manufacture) and would like to ask the following:

  • Question 1: Are all VAT/PAYE business expected to respond to the IDBR? Therefore, can we assume that there are 740 (cell U55) businesses that meet this criterion in Wales?
  • Question 2: The table shows data to March 2021. Do you have the data for the following years to March 2024, by all regions? If so, will it be accessible in the same table format?

Secondly, for the data file named  'Analysis based on BUSINESS DEMOGRAPHY 2017 Enterprise Births, Deaths and Survivals'(8760719 Link: Food and drink manufacture, Wales and the UK) we would like to ask: 

  • Question 3: This table shows data to 2017, are we able to access this data for the years following to date, in the same table format?
  • Question 4: Do you also have the 'deaths' data?

Other data sets that we would be interesting in sourcing are:

We said

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request asking for further clarification on data we have published on the ONS website. 

The data published on the ONS website relating to AH1089 Food and drink manufacture) have been published following our UK Business activity, size and location publication. The data used in the above publication captures all businesses registered for Value Added Tax (VAT) and/or Paye As You Earn (PAYE) with His Majesty Revenue and Customs (HMRC). There are thresholds requirements which can be found here VAT and PAYE.

The data you identified in cell U55 captures 740 businesses (registered for VAT and/or PAYE) in Wales classified to Manufacture of Food and Drink. The most recent data available are at March 2023. Our 2024 publication is due for release shortly, September 2024. The data used in our UK Business publication are available via our data explorer tool NOMIS. The data via Nomis can be disseminate by SIC, geography and size-bands.

To answer your further questions on an alternative publication Food and drink manufacture, Wales and the UK these data are published using our alternative publication Business Demography. The data are available in the most recent publication from 2017 to 2022. The 2023 Business demography data will be available in November 2024. The Business demography publication identifies business births, business deaths, active businesses, business survivals and high growth businesses.

If you require any further assistance with either of our publications UK Business; activity, size and location or Business demography please get in contact with our data analysis team at IDBRDAS@ons.gov.uk. We can also discuss the production of ad hoc data tables via our bespoke services through this route. Such services are subject to disclosure controls, resources, legal frameworks, and an agreement of costs in line with our charging policy.

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