How many takeaways are there in the UK? 2026 statistics

Updated 13 Nov 2026: nation and region totals, ONS site counts, per-resident figures and CSV downloads added. Every count below is a published figure from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) or the Office for National Statistics (ONS), with the pull date. We did not estimate or adjust any of them.

In short: the FSA register lists 62,910 premises in the "Takeaway/sandwich shop" category across the UK on 13 November 2026: 51,767 in England, 6,212 in Scotland, 3,173 in Wales and 1,758 in Northern Ireland. ONS counts 49,360 VAT or PAYE registered takeaway sites in March 2026, up 31% from 37,560 in 2016. The two counts measure different things.

Cite this page: Chefzi (2026), "How many takeaways are there in the UK? 2026 statistics", https://chefzi.co.uk/guides/how-many-takeaways-in-the-uk, using Food Standards Agency data (13 Nov 2026) and Office for National Statistics data (released 24 Sep 2026), accessed 13 November 2026.

Download the data (free to reuse with attribution): council-by-council FSA counts, 363 councils (CSV) and ONS takeaway sites by nation, 2016 to 2026 (CSV). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Every table on this page sorts when you select a column heading.

Takeaways by nation (FSA register, 13 November 2026)

"FSA premises" are takeaway and sandwich shop premises on the register on 13 November 2026. "Residents" are ONS mid-2025 population estimates, and "Per 100,000" divides the first by the second, so it is our arithmetic and the two dates differ by about sixteen months. Scotland has the most premises per resident; England has the fewest.

Takeaways by region (FSA regions)

Regions are the FSA's own region field for each council. London has the most takeaway and sandwich shop premises of any English region, followed by the North West. For any one place, see UK locations.

What the ONS counts (VAT and PAYE registered, March 2026)

The ONS counts takeaway food shops and mobile food stands (SIC 2007 class 56103) from its Inter-Departmental Business Register, which covers businesses registered for VAT or PAYE. Its bulletin, UK business: activity, size and location: 2026, was released on 24 September 2026 and records the register as at 13 March 2026.

"Sites" are ONS local units at the March reference date, and "Change" is 2016 to 2026. A "site" is a local unit (a place of business) and a "business" is an enterprise, so one business can run several sites. ONS rounds each figure on its own, so parts may not add to the total.

The FSA and ONS figures are both right and measure different things. The FSA register includes any food business registered with its council, including sandwich shops and businesses below the VAT threshold; the ONS count includes only VAT or PAYE registered businesses, and its class includes mobile food stands.

What delivery apps publish about their fees

Marketplace fees come from each platform's own pages, read on 13 November 2026 (Just Eat: https://www.just-eat.co.uk/partner/signup/, plus VAT; on a £20 order, £3.36 at 14% and £7.20 at 30%). Your own agreement sets your actual rate.

Hygiene ratings of takeaways in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (FSA, 12 Nov 2026)

The rated, awaiting and exempt groups do not add up to 56,712; the difference (1,946) is premises with other statuses on the register. Rating shares are our arithmetic from the counts.

Ratings matter beyond the front window. Deliveroo's partner terms ask for an FSA rating of at least 2 (read 12 November 2026). See how to get and display a food hygiene rating.

Which council areas have the most takeaways?

The 15 largest across the whole UK by "Takeaway/sandwich shop" premises, from the FSA register on 13 November 2026 (all 363 councils, including Scotland):

Glasgow City has the most takeaway and sandwich shop premises of any council in the UK (1,122), ahead of Birmingham. Council and nation counts on this page are from the 13 November pull; the rating table above is from the 12 November pull, so a few figures differ by a handful.

Scotland: the 10 largest councils

Scotland is on the Food Hygiene Information Scheme (Pass or Improvement Required), so its councils are ranked on premises only:

Wales: the 8 largest councils

Northern Ireland: the 6 council areas with the most

Every UK council area with enough premises to say something specific has its own page, listed on UK locations by nation, region and county.

What this means for a takeaway owner

• You are in a crowded field. Hundreds of takeaways in the same council area compete for the same searches, so a clear ordering link on your Google Business Profile and your own website matters. See adding your order link to Google.
• Ratings are public and searchable. A 5 is the norm among rated takeaways (61.5%, 12 Nov 2026), so a lower rating stands out.
• Commission adds up across a crowded market. Delivery apps charge a share of every order. See the published rates in our Uber Eats, Deliveroo and Just Eat commission guides.

All 363 councils (sortable)

Every UK local authority on the FSA register, from the 13 November 2026 pull. Select a column heading to sort, or type to filter by council, region or nation. "Rated 5" is the number of takeaway and sandwich shop premises holding a 5 rating, and applies to England, Wales and Northern Ireland only (FHRS). Download this table as a CSV.

Filter councils

Methods note

1. FSA counts. Called the FSA's open API (https://api.ratings.food.gov.uk/Establishments, x-api-version: 2) with businessTypeId=7844 ("Takeaway/sandwich shop") for each of the 363 local authorities, and read meta.totalCount. Council counts and regions are from 13 November 2026. Scheme and rating totals are from 12 November 2026.
2. Nation and region. Each council's region is the RegionName field in the FSA's /Authorities list. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are their own regions; the nine other regions make up England.
3. Rating counts. Used ratingKey with ratingOperatorKey=Equal for each 0 to 5 rating. Scotland uses a different scheme (FHIS, Pass or Improvement Required), so ratings cover England, Wales and Northern Ireland only. Shares are our arithmetic.
4. ONS counts. UK Business Counts for SIC 2007 class 56103, read through the Nomis API (datasets NM_141_1 for sites and NM_142_1 for businesses; mid-2025 population from NM_2002_1). ONS changed its tool for coding businesses to industry in late 2025, so detailed industry counts may include small breaks.
5. Limits. The FSA register changes daily and includes sandwich shops, so it is not a count of trading takeaways. A later query will differ. We have not matched FSA premises to ONS sites.

Sources

• Food Standards Agency, Food Hygiene Rating Scheme open data (api.ratings.food.gov.uk), Open Government Licence v3.0. Council counts pulled 13 Nov 2026; scheme and rating totals 12 Nov 2026.
• Office for National Statistics, UK Business Counts (IDBR, March 2026 extract), via Nomis, Open Government Licence v3.0, pulled 13 Nov 2026. Bulletin: UK business; activity, size and location: 2026, released 24 Sep 2026.
• Office for National Statistics, mid-2025 population estimates, via Nomis, pulled 13 Nov 2026.
• Just Eat, Uber Eats and Deliveroo partner pages, read 12 Nov 2026 (see the linked commission guides).