The Datum Report

Standing view · business · Pembrokeshire

The business base in Pembrokeshire has been shrinking.

deteriorating, held with established confidence, formed on 31 August 2026 from movements in 2026-06.

Business births in Pembrokeshire fell to 80 in the third quarter of 2025, then rose to 105 in the second quarter of 2026. Closures rose to 145 in the second quarter of 2025, above both formation figures. Formations running below the one closure reading available is why the business base reads as shrinking. There were 5,760 businesses in the county in 2025, of which 360 employed between 10 and 19 people and 30 employed 50 to 99, across 6,620 sites.

How this was decided

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 Pembrokeshire. Where no figure supports a direction we hold no view rather than a hedged one.

The 3 measures that formed this view

MeasurePeriodDirection
Business deaths2025-06deteriorating
Business births2025-09deteriorating
Business births2026-06improving

Also published on this topic, but not counted

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.

MeasurePeriodSeries
Businesses2025
Businesses employing 10 to 19 people2025
Businesses employing 50 to 99 people2025
Business sites2025