Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the trends in the number of business closures in rural areas.

Defra publishes the Statistical Digest for Rural England to provide up-to-date analysis across a wide range of subjects including information on business survival and growth.

Business deaths per head of population are lower in rural Areas. In 2023, there were 39 registered business deaths per 10,000 population in Predominantly Rural areas compared with 44 per 10,000 population in Predominantly Urban areas (excluding London).

Between 2018 to 2023 in Predominantly Rural areas, the number of business deaths remained between 35 and 45 per 10,000 population; in Urban areas it remained between 40 and 50.