Version: 2.1.0 | Published: 3 Sep 2026 | Updated: 13 days ago
Longitudinal Business Database in the UK
Dataset
Summary
Citation:
Office for National Statistics, released 29 August 2025, ONS SRS Metadata
Catalogue, dataset, Longitudinal Business Database in the UK,
https://doi.org/10.57906/wf9k-8v47
DOI Name:
Documentation
Associated Media:
Description:
The LBD takes snapshots from the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR) and links economically active units at a quarterly frequency.
The current release features units along the WERL spine (Enterprise Group (or WoW, which stands for ‘Who owns who’) – Enterprise – Reporting Unit – Local Unit).
The variables are all derived from the IDBR, including turnover, employment, Standard Industrial Classification 2007, International Territorial Level 1 geography and legal status. Markers for economic activity indicate businesses that are changing their activity status during the quarter (e.g. being born, closing or reactivating).
The LBD differs from other linked, IDBR-based datasets like the Business Structure Database and the Longitudinal IDBR in three important ways: (1) it provides information on business demography at quarterly frequency, crucial for analysis at business cycle frequencies. (2) it establishes true longitudinality for all units that comprise the structure of a business. This feature allows the LBD to capture within-quarter activity faithfully. (3), it makes explicit IDBR decision rules developed from its original purpose as a sampling frame and converts them into activity criteria that give rise to an economically meaningful definition of the business population.
The LBD is an experimental dataset. Economic activity criteria, spines and input data may change in future releases. The datasets generated with the LBD are for research use and are not a replacement for business demography National Statistics.
Please see the Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence Discussion Paper “The UK Longitudinal Business Database: A User Manual” (Lui et al.,) in Associated Media section for detailed methodology on the current data-linking strategy and economic activity criteria applied.
Coverage
Spatial
Spatial Coverage:
United Kingdom
Geographical Levels:
- country
- ITL321
- local authority district
- region
Temporal
Start Date:
01 January 1999
Latest Data:
31 December 2024
Frequency:
IRREGULAR
Distribution Release Date:
29 August 2025
Provenance
Source:
- Administrative
- Longitudinal
Access and Governance
Usage
Condition of Access:
Standard access conditions for the use of data in the SRS
Condition of Use:
Standard conditions for the use of data in the SRS
Resource Creator:
Office for National Statistics
Access
Access Service:
- Safe Rooms, SafePods
- Assured Organisational Connectivity – office based
- Assured Organisational Connectivity – remote access
Jurisdictions:
- GB-EAW
- GB-SCT
- GB-NIR
Data Controller:
Office for National Statistics
Access Level:
Access Level 3
Format and Standards
Languages:
en
Formats:
CSV
Origin
Name:
ONS SRS Metadata Catalogue