Wales experienced a decline in its business population, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics.
The number of VAT and pay-as-you- earn (PAYE) businesses in Wales, as of March this year, was 107,000, down marginally on 108,000 in 2022.
The decline year on year in Wales was 0.8% following a rise of 0.9% in 2022 on 2021.
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The decline in the number of firms in Wales was less than for the 海角视频 as a whole, which experienced a 1.5% dip on 2022 – down from 2.78m to 2.72m. The number includes government, local authority and not-for-profit and mutual businesses.
The Welsh business population represents 3.9% of the 海角视频 total.
The ONS said it is the first fall in the number of VAT- and PAYE-registered businesses since a fall of 0.9% from March 2010 to March 2011.
All nations and regions of the 海角视频 experienced a decline, apart from Northern Ireland with an expansion of 0.3%. Scotland experienced a decline of 0.3%.
The largest contraction was in the East Midlands with a fall of 2.9%. The professional, scientific, and technical industry accounted for the largest number of businesses, with 15.2% of all registered companies in the 海角视频.
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The number of businesses in this industry has decreased for four years running, but has remained the largest broad industry group since 2013.
For two consecutive years the number of business sites operated has decreased (down by 1.4% in 2023).
Out of the 2.7 million businesses, only 58,000 operate from more than one site. Out of these the industry with the biggest decrease is the retail sector, with a drop of 3,520 sites.
This fall came mainly from businesses with 20 or more sites.
Separate research from the ONS estimates that there were 526,000 full-time- equivalent (FTE) green jobs in the 海角视频 in 2020, compared with 507,000 FTE in 2015.