Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many small businesses opened in the last (a) 3, (b) 6, (c) 12 and (d) 24 months.

The latest available data shows that at the end of March 2023 there were:

- 79,000 business births in the last three months;

- 149,000 business births in the last six months;

- 307,000 business births in the last 12 months; and

- 661,000 business births in the last 24 months.

(ONS, Business demography, Quarterly experimental statistics, UK, Q1 2023)