Size analysis of businesses: 2021

Main points

• There were an estimated 262,800 enterprises active in Wales, employing an estimated 1.2 million people.
• The majority of active enterprises were small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) with 0 to 249 employees. They accounted for 99.4% of total enterprises in Wales in 2021. Micro enterprises (0 to 9 employees) accounted for 95.0% of the total enterprises in Wales.
• Large enterprises (those with 250 or more employees) accounted for 37.4% of employment in Wales compared with 39.7% for the UK as a whole. 
• Since 2003 the proportion of employment in large enterprises decreased by 4.2 percentage points.
• Around 0.5% of enterprises active in Wales were non-UK owned. These enterprises accounted for 14.2% of employment.
• There was considerable variation between industry sectors, with employment in agriculture, forestry and fishing dominated by micro businesses (87.3%) and employment in production industries concentrated in the large size-band (50.1%).