Standing view · business · Dundee City
improving, held with established confidence, formed on 31 August 2026 from movements in 2026-06.
Business births in Dundee City fell to 105 in the third quarter of 2025 and 100 in the fourth, then rose to 145 in the second quarter of 2026. Closures moved from 105 in the third quarter of 2025 to 80 in the fourth and 95 in the second quarter of 2026, remaining below formations in the most recent quarter. Formations recovered and now run ahead of closures, though both measures changed direction within the period. There were 3,545 businesses in 2025, of which 545 employed between five and nine people.
A view is formed only where the evidence names a figure you can check. Each movement listed as a reason had to be large enough to matter and distinctive in at least one way — unusual against this area's own history, unusual against comparable areas, or sustained over several periods. A movement shared with peers counts for less, because it says something about the country rather than about Dundee City. Where no figure supports a direction we hold no view rather than a hedged one.
| Measure | Period | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Business births | 2025-09 | deteriorating |
| Business deaths | 2025-09 | deteriorating |
| Business births | 2025-12 | deteriorating |
| Business deaths | 2025-12 | improving |
| Business births | 2026-06 | improving |
| Business deaths | 2026-06 | improving |
These figures carry no defensible direction of their own: a rising house price is good news to an owner and bad news to someone trying to buy, so we do not score one as an improvement. They are shown because they are part of the picture, and they did not decide the view above.
| Measure | Period | Series |
|---|---|---|
| Businesses | 2025 | — |
| Businesses employing 5 to 9 people | 2025 | — |