The number of small charities

Overview

There are 166,592 voluntary organisations in the UK, of which 96% are small charities
In 2017/18, there were 160,377 small charities in the UK
Small charities comprise 96% of the UK voluntary sector
Scotland has the highest proportion of small charities per 100,000 people in the population.

Small charities comprise 96% of the voluntary sector in the UK.
In 2017/18, the overall number of charities in the UK was 166,592, 160,377 of which were small charities with an income of under £1m
The figures in this table use the NCVO ‘general charities’ definition.

Scotland has 3.6 small charities per 1,000 people, the highest proportion in the UK.
The lowest proportion of small charities is in Wales at 2.2, which is almost a third lower than Scotland.

Whilst the size of the sector has remained relatively stable since 2013/14, there have been changes to the proportion of different charity sizes.
Overall, the numbers of small charities has remained relatively stable since 2013/14. Conversely, The number of large charities, with an income of £1m to £10m and £10m+ has grown by 11% and 18% respectively.
As a proportion of the total in 2013/14, the number of charities with an income of under £10k has declined by nearly 5%, from 81,100 to 77,600.

Explore key regional differences on income, funding and causes for small charities

Insights

Explore our curated dataset about what activities that small charities do and where they work