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How Many Charities In The UK?

The figure quoted for UK charity numbers, including by some recognised charity sector 'authorities', is usually about 165k.  That's the number of charities registered with the Charity Commission for England & Wales and, whilst nobody actually knows, the real figure is unquestionably far higher.  Consequently, I thought it might be helpful to publish the Charity Excellence model and its main underpinning assumptions. 

The total figure for UK non-profits is about 0.5 million, of which charities represent about 80%.  I've not been able to calculate an error estimation, but think that 10% to 20% either way is probably not far off. Any input to update/improve the figures below would be very welcome. 

UK Numbers - Charities & Social Enterprises

Location/Type	Number
England & Wales	357,396
Scotland	45,000
Northern Ireland	10,000
Total UK Charities	412,396
Social Enterprises	76,335
Total UK Non-Profits	488,731

UK Charity Numbers - By Type and Country

Location/Type	Number	Notes/Source
Charity Commission E&W	167,396	Latest from search of CC register is 167,396, as at 23 Aug 20, but this figure doesn't include the 39,980 linked charities.
Exempt Charities	80,000	No-one really knows, David Ainsworth Civil Society 2015 article estimate 80k. Includes universities, housing associations, academy schools and museums.
Excepted Charities	9,999	Civil Society article 2015 – well over 10k.  Includes churches, scout and guide groups, with income under £100k pa.
Unregistered charities	100,000	NAO Briefing July 2012 – below £5k threshold
Scotland	45,000	Estimated 45k voluntary organisations, half registered as charities, about 30k small community groups: 700 charities of £1+m.  SCVO data source – 24k registered charities.
Northern Ireland	10,000	Oct 20 – 6.3k registered, but reported 7k to 11.5k
Estimated Total	412,395

Charity Numbers In England & Wales by Income Band

Income Band	Numbers	%
£0 to £10,000	206698	58%
£10,001 to £100,000	94874	27%
£100,001 to £500,000	36849	10%
£500,001 to £5,000,000	15400	4%
£5,000,000 plus	3575	1%
Total	357396

 

Other Registered UK Non-Profits

Location/Type	Number	Notes/Source
Social Enterprises	70,000	Social Enterprise UK State of the Sector Report 2015 - 70,000 social enterprises in the UK.
CICs		CIC regulator 17/18 annual report – 14,000 CICs.
CASCs	6,335	CASC info states 6335
Community Benefit Societies		FCA registered, benefits the community, may, or may not be a charity.
Cooperatives		Not a charity, exists for benefit of individual members.  Includes credit unions. FCA registered.  Estimated to be 7000.
Estimated Total	76,335

The Statistics Used - Assumptions & Limitations

Here are the main assumptions in the model: 

1. Data is drawn from a range of sources and these may have compiled figures on a differing basis to each other.
2. Some figures are not up-to-date.
3. Link charities have been excluded from the totals. 
4. The percentage breakdown by income band of charities, is based on the percentages in the Charity Commission 2018 figures - this assumes that the current breakdown hasn't changed and also the exempt and excepted charity breakdowns follow the same pattern.  
5. CASCs are in addition to the Social Enterprises UK total, because these were not included in the survey.  However, CASC is really a tax status, not legal structure and, it may be, that there is some double counting here.   

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