The BIS VAT registrations and de-registrations series has now been superseded by the ONS publication ‘Business Demography’.

Please note that there will be no further releases of this publication. The Office for National Statistics has released a new National Statistics series on business births, deaths and survival rates named ‘Business Demography’. For further information please use the link provided here. Business Demography is now the only official source of information on business start-ups and closures.

Business Start-ups and Closures: VAT Registrations and De-Registrations in 2007 - News Release (PDF document 245KB - published November 2008, URN 08/111).

This provides 'headline' figures showing the number of VAT registrations and de-registrations in the UK in 2007 and the stock of registered businesses at the start of 2008. It also provides a table showing registrations, de-registrations and stock by main industry groups and registration and de-registration rates by region. A more detailed analysis is available in the data tables below.

This will be the final time these statistics are released. The Office for National Statistics have released a new National Statistics series on business births, deaths and survival rates, also on 28th November 2008 click here for further details and from next year this will be the only official source of information on business start-ups and closures.

For further details on the differences between the two publications, click here.

Tables 1a-1e (Excel document 665KB - published November 2008) Registrations, de-registrations and net change 1994-2007 with start of year stock 1994-2008 for the UK and each Country, Government Office Region, County and District, and registrations, de-registrations and stock per 10,000 resident adults for these years.

Tables 2a-2d (Excel document 2.8MB - published November 2008). Please note that this is a large file and may take some time to download.) Registrations, de-registrations and net change 1994-2006 with start of year stock 1994-2006 for the UK, and each Country, Government Office Region, County and District by broad industry.

Tables 3a-3d (Excel document 471KB - published November 2008) Registrations, de-registrations and net change 1994-2007 with start of year stock 1994-2008 for each UK Parliamentary Constituency.

Tables 4a-4d (Excel document 173KB - published November 2007) Registrations, de-registrations and net change 1994-2007 with start of year stock 1994-2008 for each UK 3-digit industrial sector.

If you are having problems downloading these files, try right-clicking on the link and selecting "Save Target As..." to save a copy to your computer. A Winzip compressed version is also available containing all 4 sets of tables (1.05MB - published November 2008).

If you are having problems downloading these files, try right-clicking on the link and selecting "Save Target As..." to save a copy to your computer. A Winzip compressed version is also available containing all 4 sets of tables (1.05MB - published November 2008).

A document explaining the methodology and accuracy of the 1994 to 2007 series is also available (PDF document 54KB - published November 2008)

A separate data set is available for 1980-1993 (Excel document 2.31MB). Large increases in the compulsory VAT registration threshold in 1991 and 1993 mean that these figures should not be compared directly with the later file.

Data for National Indicators 171 and 172
The data for the new National Indicators 171 and 172 have been moved to a new page but are also available through the CLG hub here and the FTI website here.

VAT Registrations in Deprived Areas
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) aims to promote more enterprise in disadvantaged communities. Progress towards this objective is being measured in a number of ways, including surveys, research and analysis of the available statistics. The following data is available giving the number of businesses registering for VAT in deprived areas.

A list of the 91 Local Authorities that are monitored by the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit can be found on the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit's NRF Floor Target Area Profiles page. Details of the changes to the areas receiving Neighbourhood Renewal Funding that were introduced in April 2006 are available from the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit's Floor Targets Interactive web page.

You can visit the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit website to find out more on the Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy.

For further information on these statistics please contact [email protected]

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