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A total of 290,739 companies were registered in the country, an increase of 3.5% on the previous 12 months. During the year 38,926 new companies were established.

The statistics are taken from the Inform Direct Review of Company Formations, using data from Companies House and the Office for National Statistics.

Glasgow formed the most new businesses (9,064), followed by Edinburgh (5,860) and South Lanarkshire (2,319).

John Korchak, managing director of Inform Direct

John Korchak, managing director at Inform Direct, said: “It is excellent news that Scotland can celebrate a record year for the number of businesses in 2023.

“The year undoubtedly presented a range of challenges for business including tepid predictions of economic growth, volatility in energy prices and uncertainty from world events. However, the formation figures demonstrate very clearly that entrepreneurs in Scotland remained undeterred and pursued their ambitions to establish new ventures.

“This positive picture is mirrored in the overall position for the UK which saw the highest ever number of new companies established during 2023. The total number of UK formations exceeded 900,000 for the very first time.”

The UK saw 900,006 new companies, compared with 805,141 in 2022, which represents an increase of 11.8%. It brings the total number of UK companies to a record 5,476,772.

Of the 769,385 formations in England, well over one-third were in London (313,446). 13,704 were in Northern Ireland and 27,162 were in Wales.

To see a more detailed picture of company formations in Scotland – including a full local breakdown – visit: https://www.informdirect.co.uk/company-formations-2023/scotland/

To see the report in full, visit: https://www.informdirect.co.uk/company-formations-2023/

Inform Direct is a company secretarial and formation specialist. Its award-winning software supports 350,000 UK companies.

Scotland celebrates record high for company registrations