Rating the Hygiene Standards of UK Food Businesses: The Latest Statistics

Food hygiene is an important issue in the UK.

Poor food hygiene can lead to the spread of foodborne illness, which can cause serious health problems.

In fact, a recent scientific study by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) estimates that around 2.4 million cases of foodborne illness occur every year in the UK (source).

This represents a significant burden on both public health and the economy and costs the UK around £9.1 billion per year (source).

To help address this problem, the UK has implemented the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme, which is managed by the FSA and local authorities. 

The scheme aims to inform consumers about the hygiene standards of food businesses and encourage those businesses to improve their practices. 

Under the scheme, food businesses are inspected by local authorities and assigned a rating based on their compliance with food safety regulations. 

These ratings are often displayed prominently at the business's premises, allowing consumers to make informed choices about where to eat or purchase food.  They are also available here on Food Owland the Food Standards Agency website.

While these ratings are helpful in evaluating the performance of individual businesses, I thought it would be interesting to look at the latest food hygiene ratings statistics for local and regional areas in the UK. Before we do, here are some overall statistics for the UK:

Please note that the data in this article was obtained from the Food Standards Agency website and is updated on a nightly basis. This ensures that the information is as accurate and up-to-date as possible.

Latest Food Hygiene Rating Statistics (April 2025)

  • Out of 538,614 businesses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, 366,383 businesses have achieved the highest possible rating of 5 (68.02%).
  • A total of 107,073 businesses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have achieved a perfect hygiene score (19.88%). A business with a perfect hygiene score was awarded a rating of 'five' and zero points on their last inspection. This means inspectors could not find any shortcomings in terms of food hygiene.
  • There are currently a total of 843 zero-rated businesses (0.16%) and 6,386 one-rated businesses (1.19%) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
  • In Scotland, there are currently 56,793 food-based businesses. Out of those, 41,747 have a rating of 'Pass' (73.51%) and 3,277 have a rating of 'Improvement Required' (5.77%). The remaining businesses are 'excempt'.

Those are some interesting numbers, but let's delve into some more interesting statistics and look at where the best and the worst regions are for food hygiene ratings in the UK.

Eye-Opening Food Hygiene Statistics for April 2025

These statistics provide a snapshot of the state of food hygiene in the UK today.  They highlight both the successes and the challenges that the country faces in ensuring that the food we eat is free from contamination and is safe to consume.

Country Level Statistics

Here's the latest food hygiene rating statistics for each country within the UK.

  • Wales is currently the worst performing country out of England, Wales and Northern Ireland for food hygiene ratings. Wales currently has the greatest percentage of zero and one-rated food establishments. There are a total of 32,635 food-based businesses in Wales and 486 of those have a rating of 'zero' or 'one' (1.49%).
  • The best performing country out of England, Wales and Northern Ireland for food hygiene ratings is Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland currently has the greatest percentage of five-rated food establishments. There are a total of 16,718 food-based businesses in Northern Ireland and 12,618 of those have a rating of 'five' (75.48%).

Here's a table showing the percentage of 5-rated businesses and the percentage of 0 and 1-rated businesses for each country:

Country5-Rated Businesses (%)0 and 1-Rated Businesses (%)
Northern Ireland75.48% (12,618)0.34% (57)
Wales67.88% (22,152)1.49% (486)
England67.78% (331,613)1.37% (6,686)

Regional Level Statistics

Next we dive into the latest food hygiene rating statistics for each region in the UK.  These statistics offer a high-level view of the state of food hygiene in each region.

Please note it's worth noting that the Food Standards Agency considers Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland to be both countries and regions. This is why you will see them listed in both the country and region sections of this article.

  • London is currently the worst performing region out of England, Wales and Northern Ireland for food hygiene ratings. London currently has the greatest percentage of zero and one-rated food establishments. There are a total of 79,477 food-based businesses in London and 289 of those are rated 'zero' or 'one' (2.28%). 
  • The best performing region out of England, Wales and Northern Ireland for food hygiene ratings is Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland currently has the greatest percentage of five-rated food establishments. There are a total of 16,718 food-based businesses in Northern Ireland and 12,618 of those have a rating of 'five' (75.48%).

Here's a table showing the percentage of 5-rated businesses and the percentage of 0 and 1-rated businesses for each region in England, Wales and Northern Ireland::

Region5-Rated Businesses (%)0 and 1-Rated Businesses (%)
Northern Ireland75.48% (12,618)0.34% (57)
East Midlands74.26% (31,309)0.85% (359)
South East72.45% (56,159)0.91% (708)
North East72.37% (16,344)0.74% (167)
East Counties71.31% (37,562)0.93% (491)
South West71.30% (38,052)0.87% (464)
Yorkshire and Humberside69.54% (33,503)1.21% (584)
Wales67.88% (22,152)1.49% (486)
North West65.21% (41,611)1.67% (1,067)
West Midlands62.19% (30,776)2.09% (1,032)
London58.25% (46,297)2.28% (1,814)

Local Authority Level Statistics (England, Wales and Northern Ireland)

In this section, we'll look at the best and worst performing local authorities for food hygiene ratings in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

  • The worst performing local authority out of England, Wales and Northern Ireland for food hygiene ratings is Waltham Forest.
  • Waltham Forest currently has the greatest percentage of zero and one-rated food establishments.There are a total of 1,996 food-based businesses in Waltham Forest and 229 of those are rated 'zero' or 'one' (11.47%).

  • The best performing local authority out of England, Wales and Northern Ireland for food hygiene ratings is River Tees.

River Tees currently has the greatest percentage of five-rated food establishments. There are a total of 5 food-based businesses in River Tees and 5 of those have a rating of 'five' (100.00%).

Worst performing local authorities for food hygyiene ratings

Here's a table displaying the bottom 20 local authorities for food hygiene ratings in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.  This highlights the local authorities where improvement is required to catch-up with the local authorities that perform the best in the UK.

Local Authority0 and 1-Rated Businesses (%)
Waltham Forest11.47% (229)
Newham6.64% (173)
Pendle6.46% (53)
Birmingham5.24% (520)
Blaenau Gwent4.72% (30)
Barking and Dagenham4.64% (63)
Ealing4.63% (151)
Woking4.52% (35)
Hillingdon4.09% (90)
Wyre3.78% (38)
Torbay3.49% (52)
Hull City3.47% (78)
Wigan3.47% (86)
Bolton3.32% (84)
Redbridge3.29% (65)
Great Yarmouth3.25% (35)
Blackburn3.21% (42)
Doncaster3.15% (85)
Salford3.15% (62)
Enfield3.14% (75)

Best performing local authorities for food hygyiene ratings

Here's a table displaying the top 20 local authorities for food hygiene ratings in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.  This highlights their impressive efforts in maintaining high standards in the UK food industry.

Local Authority5-Rated Businesses (%)
River Tees100.00% (5)
Wrexham92.36% (1051)
Thanet91.98% (1330)
Bassetlaw89.55% (925)
Ipswich88.33% (954)
Castle Point87.97% (446)
Stockton On Tees87.89% (1321)
South Derbyshire87.82% (685)
Lincoln City87.33% (937)
North Kesteven87.29% (824)
Anglesey86.25% (646)
Hartlepool85.94% (660)
Redcar and Cleveland85.86% (996)
Rossendale85.69% (575)
Rother84.75% (817)
Chichester84.56% (1183)
Forest of Dean84.50% (627)
East Lindsey84.23% (1821)
Lisburn and Castlereagh City83.69% (816)
West Oxfordshire83.54% (929)

Scottish Local Authority Level Statistics

Finally, we'll look at the best and worst performing local authorities for food hygiene ratings in Scotland.

  • The worst performing local authority in Scotland for food hygiene ratings is Aberdeen City.
  • Aberdeen City currently has the greatest percentage of food establishments with 'Improvement Required'. There are a total of 2,202 food-based businesses in Aberdeen City and 319 of those are rated as 'Improvement Required' (14.49%).

  • The best performing local authority in Scotland for food hygiene ratings is North Lanarkshire.

North Lanarkshire currently has the greatest percentage of pass-rated food establishments. There are a total of 2639 food-based businesses in North Lanarkshire and 2479 of those have a rating of 'pass' (93.94%).

Worst performing Scottish local authorities for food hygyiene ratings

Here's a table displaying the bottom 20 local authorities for food hygiene ratings in Scotland.  This highlights the local authorities where improvement is required to catch-up with the local authorities that perform the best in Scotland.

Local Authority'Improvement Required' Businesses (%)
Aberdeen City14.49% (319)
Shetland Islands9.64% (27)
South Lanarkshire9.33% (227)
Glasgow City8.86% (554)
Edinburgh (City of)8.50% (433)
Midlothian8.16% (56)
Highland7.88% (435)
Dundee City7.07% (102)
Clackmannanshire7.03% (36)
Inverclyde6.90% (42)
Aberdeenshire6.12% (158)
Angus5.77% (58)
Stirling4.78% (62)
Scottish Borders4.69% (79)
North Ayrshire4.63% (62)
East Lothian4.23% (37)
West Dunbartonshire4.02% (30)
Perth and Kinross3.75% (55)
North Lanarkshire3.41% (90)
Dumfries and Galloway3.13% (85)

Best performing Scottish local authorities for food hygyiene ratings

Here's a table displaying the top 20 local authorities for food hygiene ratings in Scotland.  This highlights their impressive efforts in maintaining high standards in the Scottish food industry.

Local Authority'Pass' Businesses (%)
North Lanarkshire93.94% (2,479)
East Lothian93.48% (817)
East Renfrewshire91.76% (579)
Renfrewshire88.36% (1,298)
South Ayrshire88.31% (937)
Inverclyde86.70% (528)
Falkirk86.54% (1,022)
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles)86.48% (467)
Clackmannanshire85.55% (438)
East Dunbartonshire85.54% (550)
North Ayrshire85.50% (1,144)
Dundee City85.31% (1,231)
Perth and Kinross83.17% (1,221)
Edinburgh (City of)82.99% (4,226)
Angus82.80% (833)
Stirling82.73% (1,073)
Moray81.92% (911)
Fife81.58% (3,923)
West Dunbartonshire80.56% (601)
Midlothian80.03% (549)

Wrapping Up

Overall, the UK's Food Standards Agency has a strong food hygiene rating scheme in place to protect the public's health.  However, as these statistics show, there is still room for improvement in certain areas of the country. 

It is important for both consumers and food businesses to be aware of these ratings and for businesses in particular to take steps to ensure that food is safe for consumption.

Whether through careful food handling practices or by choosing to eat only at establishments with high ratings, we can all play a role in improving food hygiene in the UK. 

This helps to protect public health by reducing the spread of foodborne illness which, otherwise, can cause serious health problems and increase pressure on the NHS and the UK economy.