Business demography: 2024
Data which summarises information on the number of births and deaths and the stock of VAT/PAYE registered enterprises for 2024.
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Introduction
On 22 January 2026, the StatsWales tables for business births, deaths and active enterprises by industry were updated to include the latest data (2024).
The most recent data in this report is for 2024 and refers to businesses that were active between December 2023 and December 2024.
Main points
The total number of enterprises active in Wales during 2024 was 100,420. This was a decrease of 1,795 enterprises (1.8%) compared to 2023, and a decrease of 1,195 enterprises (1.2%) from 2019.
Since 2019, the number of enterprises active in Wales increased until reaching a peak of 105,815 in 2021, and since then has gradually decreased.
There were 10,105 enterprise births in Wales during 2024, which is a rate of 10.1%. In comparison, the UK business birth rate was 11.1%.
There were 9,710 enterprise deaths in Wales during 2024 which is a rate of 9.7%. In comparison, the UK death rate was 9.8%.
The 5-year survival rate for enterprises born in 2019 and still active in 2024 for Wales was 38.1%, below the UK survival rate of 38.4%.
The 1-year survival rate for enterprises born in 2023 and still active in 2024 for Wales was 93.2%, below the UK survival rate of 93.4%.
Note
Rates calculated as percentage of stock.
