Ref: FOI/2022/4533
You asked
Could you please share with us the number of restaurants that have opened and closed from 2007 to 2022 in the UK?
We said
Thank you for your request.
We produce an annual publication called Business Demography that measures both business births and business deaths. Data in the publication are taken from the Inter Departmental Business Register (IDBR) and consist of businesses registered with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for Value Added Tax (VAT) and/or Pay as You Earn (PAYE). The data you are requesting on the number of restaurants that have opened (birthed) and closed (deaths) are available in our publication dated back to 2009. However, data prior to 2009 can be found via the following link to our archived files: ONS archived website.
Data relating to business births and deaths in 2021 will shortly be available in November 2022. As such, information for 2021 is exempt under Section 22(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, whereby information is exempt from release if there is a view to publish the information in the future. Furthermore, as a central government department and producer of official statistics, we need to have the freedom to be able to determine our own publication timetables. This is to allow us to deal with the necessary preparation, administration and context of publications. It would be unreasonable to consider disclosure when to do so would undermine our functions.
This exemption is subject to a public interest test. We recognise the desirability of information being freely available and this is considered by ONS when publication schedules are set in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics. The need for timely data must be balanced against the practicalities of applying statistical skill and judgement to produce the high quality, assured data needed to inform decision-making. If this balance is incorrectly applied, then we run the risk of decisions being based on inaccurate data which is arguably not in the public interest. This will have an impact on public trust in official statistics in a time when accuracy of official statistics is more important to the public than ever before.
Please note, business demography measures businesses that were active throughout the reference year. The reference period is December, and therefore the 2020 publication measures businesses that were active between December 2019 and December 2020. Being active means that the business had either turnover or employment at any time during the reference year. The file of active businesses is compared with previous and subsequent files in order to identify business births and deaths and up to five-year survival rates. Please note the deaths data for 2019 and 2020 are provisional.
In addition to our annual Business Demography publication, we produce demography statistics on a quarterly basis. However, these data are experimental and are produced using alternative methodology and only backdate to 2017.
If you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact our IDBR data service team via idbrdas@ons.gov.uk.