London had 1,080 private-sector businesses with no employees for every 10,000 adults at the start of 2025, and Wales had 533. All 12 UK countries and English regions, ranked from the government’s Business Population Estimates.
Businesses with no employees per 10,000 adults, start of 2025
London1,080
South West908
South East868
East of England835
East Midlands749
West Midlands681
Yorkshire and the Humber665
Northern Ireland651
North West591
Scotland581
North East561
Wales533
DBT Business Population Estimates 2025, Table 8 · walnut bars: Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland
Chart: businesses with no employees per 10,000 resident adults in all 12 UK countries and English regions at the start of 2025, from London (1,080) to Wales (533).
As of · DBT Business Population Estimates 2025, published Oct 2, 2025; checked 1
UK Regions by Businesses With No Employees, start of 2025
Per 10,000 adults is BPE’s own published rate (Table 8): private-sector businesses with no employees per 10,000 resident adults aged 16 and over, using the ONS mid-year 2023 population estimates.1 “No employees” is BPE’s zero-employee band: sole proprietorships and partnerships with only the self-employed owner-manager(s), and companies with 0 or 1 employees, who are assumed to be working proprietors.12Businesses with no employees are counted at the start of 2025 by head-office location and rounded by BPE to the nearest 100 (Table 26b); the share is BPE’s published percentage of each area’s private-sector businesses (Table 9), not our calculation; estimate quality is BPE’s label for its estimate of unregistered businesses, set by the coefficient of variation, or CV (Table 30a: 5% or less is precise, over 5% to 10% good, over 10% to 20% acceptable).1 All 12 UK countries and English regions are listed; England (801 per 10,000) and the UK as a whole (766) are totals of these areas and are left out of the ranking.1 BPE figures are estimates and are labeled official statistics in development.4 The next edition, BPE 2026, is announced for November 5, 2026 (a provisional date), and this table will be refreshed when it lands.5
The top 10
Across the UK there were 766 businesses with no employees for every 10,000 adults at the start of 2025, and 4,272,535 such businesses in all.12 The rate runs from 1,080 in London down to 561 in the North East and 533 in Wales.1
A high share isn’t the same as a high rate. The North East has a larger no-employee share of its businesses (75.4%) than London (75.2%), but far fewer businesses per adult, so it ranks 11th.1 Wales ranks last, and its count fell 15.3% over the year, from 164,600 to 139,400 (our calculation); the release puts the fall in all Welsh businesses at 12%, and says changes in every area were driven largely by unregistered businesses.12 BPE rates both the North East’s and Wales’s unregistered estimates as only “acceptable”.1
Two counting rules matter here. BPE counts each business separately, so one person running two businesses counts twice, and it includes no estimate of unregistered companies.3 Unregistered businesses are estimated from the ONS Labour Force Survey and HMRC Self Assessment data, not counted one by one.3
#1
London
1,080 per 10,000
London has the most businesses with no employees, both per head and in total: 1,080 for every 10,000 adults and 783,500 in all, out of 7,254,923 resident adults.1 BPE puts 75.2% of London’s private-sector businesses in the no-employee band.1
Most of them are small enough to be “unregistered”: registered for neither VAT (the UK’s sales tax) nor PAYE (the payroll tax system). BPE estimates 515,445 unregistered no-employee businesses in London, 49.5% of all its businesses.1 The no-employee count rose from 726,500 at the start of 2024 to 783,500 at the start of 2025, up 7.8% (our calculation from BPE’s rounded counts).1
#2
South West
908 per 10,000
The South West has 908 no-employee businesses per 10,000 adults and 439,000 in total.1 It has the highest no-employee share of any UK country or region: 78.1% of its private-sector businesses.1
Unregistered no-employee businesses alone make up 59.7% of the South West’s businesses, also the highest of the 12 areas.1 The count rose 7.7% from the start of 2024 (407,700) to the start of 2025 (439,000), by our calculation.1
#3
South East
868 per 10,000
The South East has 868 per 10,000 adults and 670,500 businesses with no employees, the second-largest total after London.1 They are 76.5% of its private-sector businesses.1
It is one of only two areas where the count fell over the year, from 699,500 to 670,500 (down 4.1%, our calculation).1 The statistical release notes the South East was the only English region where total business numbers fell since 2024, by 30,000 (3%).2 Its unregistered estimate is the only regional one BPE rates “precise” (CV 4.7%).1
#4
East of England
835 per 10,000
The East of England has 835 per 10,000 adults and 438,500 businesses with no employees, 75.8% of its private-sector businesses.1
The count grew 13.3% over the year, from 386,900 to 438,500 (our calculation).1 The release lists the East of England second among English regions for the numeric rise in total businesses, up 51,000.2
#5
East Midlands
749 per 10,000
The East Midlands has 749 per 10,000 adults and 306,400 businesses with no employees, 76.1% of its businesses.1
It had the fastest growth in the no-employee count of the 12 areas: up 17.7%, from 260,300 to 306,400 (our calculation).1 The release gives it the largest percentage rise in total business numbers of any English region, 13%.2
#6
West Midlands
681 per 10,000
The West Midlands has 681 per 10,000 adults and 334,200 businesses with no employees, 74.1% of its private-sector businesses.1
Of those, BPE estimates 240,690 are unregistered (53.4% of all its businesses), and the no-employee count rose 6.4% over the year (our calculation).1
#7
Yorkshire and the Humber
665 per 10,000
Yorkshire and the Humber has 665 per 10,000 adults and 303,400 businesses with no employees, 74.3% of its businesses.1
The count rose from 282,600 to 303,400, up 7.4% (our calculation); unregistered businesses are 54.9% of the region’s total.1
#8
Northern Ireland
651 per 10,000
Northern Ireland has the highest rate outside England: 651 per 10,000 adults, with 99,700 businesses with no employees.1 They are 71.9% of its businesses.1
Its mix leans more to registered businesses than anywhere else: unregistered no-employee businesses are 44.9% of all its businesses (the lowest of the 12), while registered ones are 27.0% (the highest).1 The count rose 6.5% over the year (our calculation).1
#9
North West
591 per 10,000
The North West has 591 per 10,000 adults and 365,500 businesses with no employees.1 At 71.8%, it shares the lowest no-employee share of the 12 areas with Wales.1
The count rose 4.1% over the year, from 351,000 to 365,500 (our calculation).1
#10
Scotland
581 per 10,000
Scotland has 581 per 10,000 adults and 266,900 businesses with no employees, 73.9% of its private-sector businesses.1
Its count rose 2.7% over the year, from 260,000 to 266,900 (our calculation).1