What the evidence means
The rate is births as a percentage of active enterprises in the transport and storage industry on the Inter-Departmental Business Register.
Industry rate based on registered enterprises.
G&G verified business evidence
Transport and storage business birth rate in 2024
The UK transport and storage industry had a business birth rate of 15.6% in 2024, the highest among industries.
15.6
percent
Original source
Office for National Statistics
Business demography, UK: 2024
The industry comparison gives transport and storage the highest birth rate, at 15.6%.
View original evidence
Office for National Statistics. Business demography, UK: 2024. 20th of November, 2025. https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/activitysizeandlocation/bulletins/businessdemography/2024
Why this matters to UK SMEs
Transport and storage recorded unusually high business entry and exit rates, signalling a dynamic but volatile market. SMEs in or dependent on the sector should read the birth rate alongside the death rate rather than treating high formation as evidence of easy or sustainable growth.
Key breakdowns
The sector recorded a 15.6% birth rate and a 16.5% death rate in 2024, based on approximately 22,000 births, 23,000 deaths and 138,000 active enterprises. It had the highest birth rate for the seventh consecutive year, but births were at their lowest level since 2015. The 2023 death rate had been 22.3%.
How to interpret this evidence
A birth is an enterprise newly appearing on the Inter-Departmental Business Register, and the rate expresses births relative to active enterprises in the sector. High births and deaths can coexist, so the rate describes churn rather than net sector health or the survival prospects of an individual firm.
Limitations
Counts are rounded and register-based, so they do not include every unregistered activity. The broad category includes transport, storage and postal activities with different economics. Death counts are provisional, and changes during and after the pandemic affected this sector particularly strongly.
Practical considerations
G&G perspective: businesses entering or buying from this market should test unit economics, utilisation, insurance, maintenance, labour, fuel and customer concentration under conservative assumptions. Monitor counterparty stability and avoid interpreting a high formation rate as proof of durable demand or margins.