Standing view · business · Perth and Kinross
mixed, held with tentative confidence, formed on 31 August 2026 from movements in 2026-06.
Business births in Perth and Kinross rose to 125 in the third quarter of 2025, fell to 100 in the fourth, then rose to 145 in the first quarter of 2026. Closures rose to 145 in the second quarter of 2025, level with the most recent formation figure. Formations changed direction twice and end the period matching the one closure reading available. There were 870 businesses employing between five and nine people in 2025 and 30 employing 100 to 249. Libraries, archives and museums employed 900 people in 2024.
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 Perth and Kinross. Where no figure supports a direction we hold no view rather than a hedged one.
| Measure | Period | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Business deaths | 2025-06 | deteriorating |
| Business births | 2025-09 | improving |
| Business births | 2025-12 | deteriorating |
| Business births | 2026-03 | 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 91 : Libraries, archives, museums and other cultural activities | 2024 | — |
| Businesses employing 100 to 249 people | 2025 | — |
| Businesses employing 5 to 9 people | 2025 | — |