Standing view · business · Dundee City
improving, held with established confidence, formed on 5 October 2026 from movements in 2026-06.
The business base in Dundee City has been growing. Business births were 145 in the quarter to June 2026 and business deaths 95 in the same quarter, both recorded as favourable against the usual pattern for their quarter, with business deaths of 80 in the quarter to December 2025 also favourable. Business births of 100 in the quarter to December 2025 was unfavourable. In 2026 there were 3,655 businesses, 2,550 of them employing 0 to 4 people, 135 employing 20 to 49 people, and 4,970 business sites. Three favourable quarters against one, with both registrations and closures reading well in the latest quarter, carries the view.
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 | 2025-12 | 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 | 2026 | rising |
| Businesses employing 0 to 4 people | 2026 | rising |
| Businesses employing 20 to 49 people | 2026 | falling |
| Business sites | 2026 | — |