Non-financial business economy, UK and regional (Annual Business Survey): 2021 results

• In 2021, approximate gross value added at basic prices (aGVA) of the UK non-financial business economy was estimated to be £1,368.1 billion; an increase of £174.1 billion (14.6%) compared with 2020.
• The non-financial services sector, which accounted for over half (55.6%) of total aGVA in 2021, increased by £87.4 billion (13.0%) to £760.9 billion; professional, scientific and technical activities saw the largest increase in aGVA of £20.3 billion (11.6%), increasing from £175.0 billion to £195.3 billion.
• Total turnover and purchases of the UK non-financial business economy were estimated to be £4,105.9 billion and £2,728.7 billion respectively; an increase of £511.4 billion (14.2%) and £351.2 billion (14.8%) compared with 2020.
• All of the 12 UK regions experienced increased growth in aGVA; London experienced the largest increase in aGVA of £36.3 billion to £319.6 billion (12.8%).
• Yorkshire and the Humber and the South West saw the largest year-on-year aGVA percentage increases, Yorkshire and the Humber’s aGVA increased by £18.8 billion (24.7%), from £76.2 billion to £94.9 billion; the aGVA in the South West rose by £18.2 billion (23.7%), from £76.9 billion to £95.2 billion.

The average response rate before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic was approximately 75%. The 2020 rate was lower than usual (58.8%) because the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic made it more difficult to contact respondents in order to process survey returns. This means that the estimates in this release are subject to more uncertainty than usual. Quality measures for the Annual Business Survey (ABS) results are available in our Non-financial business economy, UK: quality measures dataset.

In 2021, 67.5% of sampled businesses were included in the final ABS results. This demonstrates a marked improvement from the 2020 position, but is still below the pre-coronavirus pandemic average. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has released a public statement on COVID-19 and the production of statistics. Email queries can be sent to the ONS’s Media Relations office at media.relations@ons.gov.uk.

Employment data

The employment data have been removed from this publication. These data can be found from our Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES) and downloaded from the Nomis web portal.

Data sources and collection

The ABS is a sample survey of approximately 73,000 businesses across the UK. The ABS draws its sample from the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR).

Quality and Methodology

More quality and methodology information on strengths, limitations, appropriate uses, and how the data were created is available in our Annual Business Survey (ABS) Quality and Methodology Information report and ABS technical report methodology published on the ABS methodology page.

Accessibility of ABS output datasets

We have reviewed the new accessibility of datasets legislation and updated all datasets within this release. Feedback or questions on the new layout can be emailed to ABAPS@ons.gov.uk.