Standing view · business · Aberdeen City
mixed, held with tentative confidence, formed on 5 October 2026 from movements in 2026-06.
Businesses employing 5 to 9 people in Aberdeen City numbered 825 in 2026, and businesses employing 10 to 19 people 595. Larger employers were fewer: 80 businesses employed 100 to 249 people and 15 employed 1,000 or more. Business sites totalled 10,195. Business births fell from 210 in the quarter to June 2025 to 170 in the quarter to December 2025, then rose to 250 in the quarter to June 2026. The smaller size bands moved in opposite directions over the period, and births ended higher than they began.
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 Aberdeen City. Where no figure supports a direction we hold no view rather than a hedged one.
| Measure | Period | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Business births | 2025-06 | deteriorating |
| Business births | 2025-12 | deteriorating |
| Business births | 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 employing 10 to 19 people | 2026 | rising |
| Businesses employing 100 to 249 people | 2026 | — |
| Businesses employing 1000+ or more people | 2026 | — |
| Businesses employing 5 to 9 people | 2026 | falling |
| Business sites | 2026 | — |