Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make an estimate of the number of small and medium-sized businesses in (a) 2010, (b) 2015, (c) 2020 and (d) the most recent year for which figures are available.
Estimated number of private sector small and medium-sized businesses at the start of 2010, 2015, 2020 and 2023 (the latest year for which data is available) are provided in the table below.
Table: Estimated number of private sector small and medium-sized business by year
| Number of businesses |
2010 | 4,476,700 |
2015 | 5,394,300 |
2020 | 5,972,600 |
2023 | 5,547,100 |
Source: Business Population Estimates