How many restaurants are there in the UK? (2026)

There are roughly 85,000 to 90,000 restaurants in the UK in 2026, and around 176,700 hospitality businesses in total once pubs, bars, cafes and takeaways are included. The wider figure comes from the Office for National Statistics, which counted 176,685 accommodation and food services businesses in the UK as of March 2025. The answer moves depending on what you count as a restaurant, so the sections below give the number three ways, with the source for each.

Last updated: 1 September 2026.

The short answer, three ways

Different bodies count different things, which is why published figures for UK restaurants range from under 30,000 to over 600,000. Each is correct for what it measures.

Full-service restaurants: around 29,000. IBISWorld put UK full-service restaurants at 29,116 in 2025, down 4.4% on the year. This is the narrow definition, sit-down restaurants only.

All restaurants: roughly 85,000 to 90,000. Once quick-service and mobile food outlets are added, industry estimates put active UK restaurants at about 89,600 in 2025.

All food establishments on the hygiene register: about 616,000. The Food Standards Agency hygiene register, published through Scores on the Doors, listed 616,152 food establishments across the UK as of 31 August 2026. This is the widest count and includes shops, supermarkets, care homes, schools and market stalls, not only places you eat out.

For most sales and market questions, the useful band is the middle one: roughly 85,000 to 90,000 restaurants, sitting inside about 176,700 hospitality businesses overall.

Why the number depends on the definition

The ONS classifies these businesses under Standard Industrial Classification division 56, food and beverage service activities. The subclasses matter, because a "restaurant" can mean several of them:

56.101 licensed restaurants. 56.102 unlicensed restaurants. 56.302 public houses and bars. Cafes, takeaways and event catering sit under further codes in the same division.

Count only licensed and unlicensed restaurants and you get the low number. Add takeaways, cafes, pubs and bars and you approach the full hospitality total. A quoted figure is only meaningful next to the definition it uses, which is why loose claims of a single round number for UK restaurants rarely hold up.

By type

Restaurants, full and quick service: roughly 85,000 to 90,000 (industry estimates, 2025).

Pubs and bars: a large additional band under ONS subclass 56.302, on top of the restaurant count.

Cafes and takeaways: a further band again under division 56, and among the faster growing parts of the sector.

Accommodation and food services, all types: 176,685 (ONS, March 2025).

By UK nation

Exact per-nation restaurant counts need the ONS regional tables rather than a single headline figure, so the honest version is a set of approximate shares of the UK total:

England: the large majority, roughly four in five restaurants.

Scotland: around one in twelve.

Wales and Northern Ireland: smaller shares again, together making up most of the remainder.

These shares track each nation's share of the overall UK business population. Treat them as approximate. Firm counts by nation, region or town come from the ONS regional data and from merchant-level datasets built for the purpose.

A note on Peach Data

Headline counts answer the market-sizing question. They do not tell a sales team which venues exist in a given town, who owns them or how to reach that owner. Peach Data covers that layer for the UK and Europe: verified, TPS and CTPS screened records for the owners and decision-makers at local restaurants, cafes, salons, garages, gyms and shops. The company is ICO registered and aligned to UK GDPR, with coverage across thousands of towns and venues.

Frequently asked questions

**How many restaurants are there in the UK in 2026?**
Roughly 85,000 to 90,000, depending on definition. Full-service sit-down restaurants alone are about 29,000 (IBISWorld, 2025), while the wider count including quick-service outlets is around 89,600.

**How many hospitality businesses are there in the UK?**
The ONS counted 176,685 accommodation and food services businesses in the UK as of March 2025.

**Why do UK restaurant numbers vary so much?**
Because sources count different things. A narrow "restaurants only" figure is under 30,000, while the full Food Standards Agency hygiene register, which includes shops and other food premises, listed 616,152 establishments as of 31 August 2026.

**Which UK nation has the most restaurants?**
England has the large majority, roughly four in five, tracking its share of the overall UK business population. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland make up the rest.

**What is the source for these figures?**
Business counts are from the Office for National Statistics (UK Business: Activity, size and location, 2025). Restaurant estimates are from IBISWorld (2025). The food establishment total is from the Food Standards Agency hygiene register via Scores on the Doors (31 August 2026).

Start your trial

Start with 500 verified records across four cities of your choosing. No pressure and no commitment. Email hello@peachdata.co.uk and the team will set it up.