UK Food Hygiene Ratings Report 2026

How 549,668 food businesses across England, Wales and Northern Ireland score on the FSA Food Hygiene Rating Scheme. Built from the complete Food Standards Agency open dataset.

31.2%do not hold a top 5-star rating

4.65average rating (out of 5)

2.6%rated 0 to 2

549,668businesses analysed

The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme covers food businesses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Most do well: nearly seven in ten hold the top score. The interesting story is in the gaps, the regional spread, and the business types where standards slip. The figures below cover every rated establishment in the published FSA dataset as of 18 June 2026.

Notable findings

886food businesses are operating right now with a 0 rating, the lowest score the FSA gives.

33.8%of food businesses, nearly one in three, were last inspected more than two years ago.

4.33the average takeaway/sandwich shop: the lowest-scoring type of food business in the country.

44.1%of food businesses in Blaenau Gwent hold a top rating, the lowest of any large UK council area.

How UK food businesses are rated

5 (very good)

68.8% (378,391)

4 (good)

11.7% (64,290)

3 (generally satisfactory)

4.9% (26,967)

2 (improvement necessary)

1.3% (7,103)

1 (major improvement necessary)

1.2% (6,545)

0 (urgent improvement necessary)

0.2% (886)

Exempt

4.4% (24,189)

Awaiting inspection

7.5% (41,258)

Awaiting publication

0% (39)

Ratings of 1 to 5 are given after an inspection. Exempt covers low-risk businesses (for example, newsagents). Awaiting inspection and awaiting publication are businesses without a current published rating.

Food hygiene ratings by nation and region

Nation	Businesses	Average rating	% rated 5
England	498,985	4.65	68.7%
Wales	33,791	4.63	67.8%
Northern Ireland	16,892	4.77	76.2%

By region

Region	Businesses	Average rating	% rated 5	% awaiting inspection
London	80,651	4.46	59.9%	8.8%
South East	78,978	4.71	72.7%	6.3%
North West	65,046	4.58	65.8%	8.7%
South West	53,892	4.77	73.1%	6.1%
East Counties	53,715	4.73	72.4%	6.9%
Yorkshire and Humberside	50,206	4.66	67.7%	10.2%
West Midlands	49,892	4.57	64.4%	9%
East Midlands	43,669	4.73	74.3%	6.7%
Wales	33,791	4.63	67.8%	6.7%
North East	22,936	4.74	75.1%	5.8%
Northern Ireland	16,892	4.77	76.2%	2.2%

London sits at the bottom of the table, the only region where fewer than six in ten businesses (59.9%) hold a top rating of 5.

Ratings by type of business

The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme covers the whole food sector, not just hospitality, so this includes retailers, schools, care homes, manufacturers and mobile caterers alongside restaurants, pubs and cafes.

Business type	Businesses	Average rating	% rated 5	% rated 0-2
Restaurant/Cafe/Canteen	127,236	4.6	69.9%	3.2%
Retailers - other	109,101	4.51	57.2%	4.2%
Other catering premises	67,985	4.85	72%	0.8%
Takeaway/sandwich shop	56,749	4.33	56.1%	5.3%
Pub/bar/nightclub	46,596	4.66	72.3%	2.1%
Caring Premises	38,676	4.84	81.6%	0.7%
School/college/university	32,734	4.9	87.9%	0.4%
Mobile caterer	28,029	4.82	73.3%	1.1%
Retailers - supermarkets/hypermarkets	14,546	4.79	85.3%	2%
Hotel/bed & breakfast/guest house	11,590	4.79	80.5%	1.1%
Manufacturers/packers	9,692	4.76	66%	1.5%
Distributors/Transporters	4,049	4.76	53.1%	1.2%
Farmers/growers	1,868	4.88	57%	0.2%
Importers/Exporters	817	4.75	40.6%	1.6%

Quick-service food fares worst: only 56.1% of takeaway/sandwich shop premises hold a top rating (against 68.8% nationally), and 5.3% are rated 0 to 2, against 2.6% across all food businesses.

Highest and lowest scoring council areas

Council areas with at least 250 rated businesses, ranked by average rating.

The gap is wide: Bassetlaw averages 4.96 while Newham averages 3.97, almost a full rating point apart between the highest and lowest scoring council areas.

By share of top ratings, Blaenau Gwent is bottom of the table: just 44.1% of its food businesses hold a 5. In 9 large council areas, fewer than half do.

Highest average rating

Bassetlaw4.96 (East Midlands)
Dorset4.94 (South West)
Forest of Dean4.94 (South West)
Wrexham4.94 (Wales)
Ipswich4.93 (East Counties)
Stockton On Tees4.93 (North East)
Thanet4.93 (South East)
Chichester4.92 (South East)
Harborough4.92 (East Midlands)
North Kesteven4.92 (East Midlands)

Lowest average rating

Newham3.97 (London)
Waltham Forest4 (London)
Barking and Dagenham4.18 (London)
Bolton4.18 (North West)
Ealing4.18 (London)
Blaenau Gwent4.19 (Wales)
Wigan4.19 (North West)
Camden4.23 (London)
Walsall4.25 (West Midlands)
Enfield4.26 (London)

Find your council area

Average food hygiene rating for every UK council area with rated businesses (331 areas). Search by council or region.

Council area	Region	Businesses	Average rating	% rated 5
Adur	South East	460	4.8	82%
Amber Valley	East Midlands	1,099	4.74	72.3%
Anglesey	Wales	760	4.84	89.5%
Antrim and Newtownabbey	Northern Ireland	1,101	4.82	77.2%
Ards and North Down	Northern Ireland	1,273	4.77	74.2%
Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon	Northern Ireland	1,877	4.78	76.6%
Arun	South East	1,336	4.75	75.8%
Ashfield	East Midlands	946	4.57	70.6%
Ashford	South East	1,261	4.85	82.2%
Babergh	East Counties	886	4.77	79.3%
Barking and Dagenham	London	1,433	4.18	46.3%
Barnet	London	2,840	4.37	49.8%
Barnsley	Yorkshire and Humberside	1,901	4.71	71.2%
Basildon	East Counties	1,383	4.68	67.4%
Basingstoke and Deane	South East	1,283	4.65	60.6%
Bassetlaw	East Midlands	1,089	4.96	89.4%
Bath and North East Somerset	South West	1,848	4.57	68%
Bedford	East Counties	1,662	4.73	72.3%
Belfast City	Northern Ireland	3,169	4.58	66.4%
Bexley	London	1,760	4.55	65.6%
Birmingham	West Midlands	10,140	4.29	56.1%
Blaby	East Midlands	681	4.74	73%
Blackburn	North West	1,309	4.32	56%
Blackpool	North West	1,683	4.66	79%
Blaenau Gwent	Wales	655	4.19	44.1%
Bolsover	East Midlands	746	4.77	79.6%
Bolton	North West	2,363	4.18	51%
Boston	East Midlands	636	4.79	79.9%
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole	South West	3,493	4.82	73.9%
Bracknell Forest	South East	784	4.76	73.7%
Bradford	Yorkshire and Humberside	4,621	4.56	63.4%
Braintree	East Counties	1,263	4.78	77.2%
Breckland	East Counties	1,257	4.79	80.6%
Brent	London	2,479	4.57	66.8%
Brentwood	East Counties	753	4.74	72.9%
Bridgend	Wales	1,341	4.63	65.2%
Brighton and Hove	South East	3,011	4.75	74.9%
Bristol	South West	4,472	4.64	62.9%
Broadland	East Counties	949	4.83	82.8%
Bromley	London	2,442	4.67	67.9%
Bromsgrove	West Midlands	750	4.73	63.1%
Broxbourne	East Counties	837	4.88	72.9%
Broxtowe	East Midlands	819	4.66	66.7%
Buckinghamshire	South East	4,594	4.72	69.6%
Burnley	North West	879	4.57	62.7%
Bury	North West	1,219	4.55	67.9%
Caerphilly	Wales	1,535	4.4	57.3%
Calderdale	Yorkshire and Humberside	1,902	4.59	67.7%
Cambridge City	East Counties	1,476	4.67	68.3%
Camden	London	4,314	4.23	45.7%
Cannock Chase	West Midlands	837	4.79	73.4%
Canterbury City	South East	1,660	4.67	69.9%
Cardiff	Wales	3,416	4.53	62%
Carmarthenshire	Wales	2,157	4.76	72.4%
Castle Point	East Counties	536	4.88	84.3%
Causeway Coast and Glens	Northern Ireland	1,459	4.83	80.9%
Central Bedfordshire	East Counties	1,717	4.66	67.4%
Ceredigion	Wales	1,078	4.55	62.8%
Charnwood	East Midlands	1,488	4.68	70.2%
Chelmsford	East Counties	1,599	4.87	82.6%
Cheltenham	South West	1,084	4.85	83.9%
Cherwell	South East	1,319	4.7	73.1%
Cheshire East	North West	3,075	4.83	79.4%
Cheshire West and Chester	North West	2,972	4.68	71.6%
Chesterfield	East Midlands	955	4.82	80.1%
Chichester	South East	1,431	4.92	86.7%
Chorley	North West	967	4.82	77.6%
City of London Corporation	London	1,806	4.8	81.8%
Colchester	East Counties	1,656	4.82	72.8%
Conwy	Wales	1,579	4.75	74.8%
Cornwall	South West	5,310	4.77	83.6%
Cotswold	South West	1,107	4.91	85.6%
Coventry	West Midlands	3,077	4.67	60.7%
Crawley	South East	946	4.84	77.6%
Croydon	London	3,124	4.48	58.3%
Cumberland	North West	2,748	4.77	76%
Dacorum	East Counties	1,260	4.69	67.9%
Darlington	North East	913	4.83	82%
Dartford	South East	1,063	4.65	66.1%
Denbighshire	Wales	1,150	4.69	71.1%
Derby City	East Midlands	2,299	4.56	62.9%
Derbyshire Dales	East Midlands	904	4.43	58.3%
Derry City and Strabane	Northern Ireland	1,342	4.7	68.9%
Doncaster	Yorkshire and Humberside	2,816	4.53	65.9%
Dorset	South West	5,095	4.94	74.6%
Dover	South East	1,199	4.71	74.1%
Dudley	West Midlands	2,660	4.4	50.5%
Durham	North East	4,620	4.63	66.6%
Ealing	London	3,646	4.18	48.6%
East Cambridgeshire	East Counties	783	4.72	73.3%
East Devon	South West	1,552	4.74	70.8%
East Hampshire	South East	1,046	4.78	76.8%
East Hertfordshire	East Counties	1,380	4.77	70.9%
East Lindsey	East Midlands	2,255	4.82	85.3%
East Riding of Yorkshire	Yorkshire and Humberside	3,152	4.76	79.3%
East Staffordshire	West Midlands	1,199	4.57	62.3%
East Suffolk	East Counties	2,532	4.79	78.5%
Eastbourne	South East	1,036	4.77	76.3%
Eastleigh	South East	971	4.68	71.9%
Elmbridge	South East	1,102	4.6	68.4%
Enfield	London	2,356	4.26	52.8%
Epping Forest	East Counties	1,059	4.74	71.9%
Epsom and Ewell	South East	570	4.69	59.6%
Erewash	East Midlands	927	4.83	80.4%
Exeter City	South West	1,101	4.81	78.7%
Fareham	South East	787	4.8	78.3%
Fenland	East Counties	706	4.88	87.1%
Fermanagh and Omagh	Northern Ireland	1,444	4.78	77.7%
Flintshire	Wales	1,288	4.84	82.5%
Folkestone and Hythe	South East	1,284	4.76	74.6%
Forest of Dean	South West	797	4.94	81.2%
Fylde	North West	840	4.78	75.4%
Gateshead	North East	1,631	4.75	71.6%
Gedling	East Midlands	830	4.87	77.8%
Gloucester City	South West	1,060	4.73	78.5%
Gosport	South East	595	4.78	82%
Gravesham	South East	819	4.84	80.2%
Great Yarmouth	East Counties	1,105	4.48	65.5%
Greenwich	London	2,377	4.69	70.2%
Guildford	South East	1,141	4.75	71.3%
Gwynedd	Wales	2,102	4.84	83.9%
Hackney	London	2,634	4.45	55.1%
Halton	North West	899	4.56	68%
Hammersmith and Fulham	London	1,978	4.65	71.2%
Harborough	East Midlands	785	4.92	85.5%
Haringey	London	1,964	4.66	74.7%
Harlow	East Counties	680	4.72	72.8%
Harrow	London	1,867	4.37	50.6%
Hart	South East	641	4.81	75.8%
Hartlepool	North East	771	4.88	86.9%
Hastings	South East	927	4.84	80.2%
Havant	South East	1,048	4.89	74.8%
Havering	London	2,036	4.58	57.7%
Herefordshire	West Midlands	1,751	4.67	69.6%
Hertsmere	East Counties	837	4.71	69.3%
High Peak	East Midlands	892	4.83	81.7%
Hillingdon	London	2,251	4.32	57.5%
Hinckley and Bosworth	East Midlands	918	4.79	73.4%
Horsham	South East	1,292	4.85	80.9%
Hounslow	London	2,262	4.59	59.5%
Hull and Goole Port	Yorkshire and Humberside	5	5	100%
Hull City	Yorkshire and Humberside	2,264	4.56	66.1%
Huntingdonshire	East Counties	1,513	4.6	63.7%
Hyndburn	North West	762	4.47	58.7%
Ipswich	East Counties	1,138	4.93	88%
Isle of Wight	South East	1,679	4.56	62.5%
Isles of Scilly	South West	131	4.87	68.7%
Islington	London	2,548	4.38	59.7%
Kensington and Chelsea	London	2,040	4.82	78.4%
King's Lynn and West Norfolk	East Counties	1,496	4.83	80.5%
Kingston-Upon-Thames	London	1,420	4.57	66.4%
Kirklees	Yorkshire and Humberside	3,717	4.58	59.8%
Knowsley	North West	794	4.37	56.4%
Lambeth	London	2,643	4.36	56.1%
Lancaster City	North West	1,165	4.67	72.6%
Leeds	Yorkshire and Humberside	7,366	4.67	57.9%
Leicester City	East Midlands	3,349	4.51	66.2%
Lewes	South East	958	4.77	77.2%
Lewisham	London	2,437	4.42	51.3%
Lichfield	West Midlands	859	4.66	68.6%
Lincoln City	East Midlands	1,105	4.89	85.2%
Lisburn and Castlereagh City	Northern Ireland	1,000	4.9	83.5%
Liverpool	North West	4,520	4.39	50.2%
Luton	East Counties	1,685	4.41	50.1%
Maidstone	South East	1,454	4.72	77.5%
Maldon	East Counties	677	4.79	76.2%
Malvern Hills	West Midlands	706	4.67	54.5%
Manchester	North West	6,337	4.5	58.1%
Mansfield	East Midlands	894	4.79	79.8%
Medway	South East	2,122	4.72	74.4%
Melton	East Midlands	541	4.77	73.2%
Merthyr Tydfil	Wales	593	4.38	52.3%
Merton	London	1,531	4.73	67.4%
Mid and East Antrim	Northern Ireland	1,162	4.9	80.6%
Mid Devon	South West	780	4.74	75%
Mid Suffolk	East Counties	838	4.77	74%
Mid Sussex	South East	1,362	4.71	75.5%
Mid Ulster	Northern Ireland	1,357	4.84	82.8%
Middlesbrough	North East	1,152	4.7	75.3%
Milton Keynes	South East	2,484	4.67	69.8%
Mole Valley	South East	796	4.86	81%
Monmouthshire	Wales	933	4.69	76.8%
Neath Port Talbot	Wales	1,175	4.5	65.4%
New Forest	South East	1,567	4.69	72.9%
Newark and Sherwood	East Midlands	1,124	4.77	80.2%
Newcastle Upon Tyne	North East	2,699	4.55	69.7%
Newcastle-Under-Lyme	West Midlands	972	4.78	80.2%
Newham	London	2,617	3.97	45.7%
Newport	Wales	1,347	4.67	67.1%
Newry, Mourne and Down	Northern Ireland	1,708	4.85	82.6%
North Devon	South West	1,456	4.73	75.8%
North East Derbyshire	East Midlands	808	4.8	80.4%
North East Lincolnshire	Yorkshire and Humberside	1,742	4.75	63%
North Hertfordshire	East Counties	1,114	4.67	70.3%
North Kesteven	East Midlands	972	4.92	88.2%
North Lincolnshire	Yorkshire and Humberside	1,472	4.65	72.4%
North Norfolk	East Counties	1,502	4.8	83.5%
North Northamptonshire	East Midlands	3,064	4.77	77.8%
North Somerset	South West	1,667	4.66	69.6%
North Tyneside	North East	1,506	4.79	82.6%
North Warwickshire	West Midlands	666	4.7	76.1%
North West Leicestershire	East Midlands	981	4.7	65%
North Yorkshire	Yorkshire and Humberside	7,042	4.78	75.9%
Northumberland	North East	3,488	4.87	80.4%
Norwich City	East Counties	1,558	4.53	56.9%
Nottingham City	East Midlands	3,012	4.84	79.9%
Nuneaton and Bedworth	West Midlands	907	4.74	76.2%
Oadby and Wigston	East Midlands	400	4.75	65.3%
Oldham	North West	1,939	4.56	64.9%
Oxford City	South East	1,563	4.8	76.6%
Pembrokeshire	Wales	2,302	4.69	62.1%
Pendle	North West	807	4.47	66%
Peterborough City	East Counties	1,960	4.83	78.7%
Plymouth City	South West	1,794	4.61	71.2%
Portsmouth	South East	1,819	4.37	54.3%
Powys	Wales	2,632	4.63	64.9%
Preston	North West	1,627	4.68	71.2%
Reading	South East	1,519	4.38	57.6%
Redbridge	London	2,112	4.35	55.4%
Redcar and Cleveland	North East	1,232	4.91	86.9%
Redditch	West Midlands	491	4.58	56.4%
Reigate and Banstead	South East	1,091	4.53	60.7%
Rhondda Cynon Taf	Wales	2,029	4.5	61.2%
Ribble Valley	North West	648	4.83	77.2%
Richmond-Upon-Thames	London	1,553	4.58	65.4%
River Tees	North East	3	5	100%
Rochdale	North West	1,882	4.47	57.2%
Rochford	East Counties	702	4.7	68.8%
Rossendale	North West	706	4.78	73.8%
Rother	South East	1,021	4.83	85.9%
Rotherham	Yorkshire and Humberside	2,171	4.83	82.1%
Rugby	West Midlands	967	4.49	61.9%
Runnymede	South East	686	4.73	74.1%
Rushcliffe	East Midlands	935	4.72	71.7%
Rushmoor	South East	698	4.54	64.3%
Rutland	East Midlands	457	4.79	75.3%
Salford	North West	2,085	4.41	57.7%
Sandwell	West Midlands	2,617	4.46	59.6%
Sefton	North West	2,376	4.77	75.3%
Sevenoaks	South East	951	4.68	69.8%
Sheffield	Yorkshire and Humberside	4,868	4.6	67.5%
Shropshire	West Midlands	3,109	4.81	80.9%
Slough	South East	992	4.37	52.8%
Solihull	West Midlands	1,380	4.63	71.8%
Somerset	South West	6,065	4.84	79.9%
South Cambridgeshire	East Counties	1,307	4.81	79.4%
South Derbyshire	East Midlands	858	4.81	73.3%
South Gloucestershire	South West	2,079	4.75	66.5%
South Hams	South West	1,112	4.86	69.2%
South Holland	East Midlands	794	4.8	75.9%
South Kesteven	East Midlands	1,175	4.73	77.4%
South Norfolk	East Counties	1,110	4.76	74.6%
South Oxfordshire	South East	1,246	4.57	64.9%
South Ribble	North West	823	4.9	83.8%
South Staffordshire	West Midlands	734	4.79	80.4%
South Tyneside	North East	1,043	4.62	69%
Southampton	South East	1,706	4.51	59.2%
Southend-On-Sea	East Counties	1,496	4.51	64.9%
Southwark	London	3,200	4.58	67.5%
Spelthorne	South East	770	4.68	70.1%
St Albans City	East Counties	1,163	4.67	70.6%
St Helens	North West	1,367	4.53	66.9%
Stafford	West Midlands	1,133	4.7	66.8%
Staffordshire Moorlands	West Midlands	865	4.76	79.2%
Stevenage	East Counties	690	4.82	67.5%
Stockport	North West	2,729	4.73	63.5%
Stockton On Tees	North East	1,556	4.93	86.4%
Stoke-On-Trent	West Midlands	2,267	4.65	65.2%
Stratford-on-Avon	West Midlands	1,357	4.79	78.5%
Stroud	South West	1,070	4.7	73.5%
Sunderland	North East	2,322	4.74	70.2%
Surrey Heath	South East	675	4.65	67%
Sutton	London	1,292	4.55	66.8%
Swale	South East	1,226	4.74	80%
Swansea	Wales	2,434	4.53	60.3%
Swindon	South West	1,627	4.74	72%
Tameside	North West	1,651	4.57	71.7%
Tamworth	West Midlands	553	4.79	75.8%
Tandridge	South East	706	4.85	79.9%
Teignbridge	South West	1,316	4.82	78.6%
Telford and Wrekin Council	West Midlands	1,456	4.75	78.6%
Tendring	East Counties	1,262	4.46	60.9%
Test Valley	South East	1,085	4.85	78.9%
Tewkesbury	South West	781	4.79	82.1%
Thanet	South East	1,546	4.93	90.9%
Three Rivers	East Counties	637	4.77	74.1%
Thurrock	East Counties	1,284	4.59	64.3%
Tonbridge and Malling	South East	1,042	4.7	72.8%
Torbay	South West	1,515	4.65	61%
Torfaen	Wales	785	4.53	64.6%
Torridge	South West	775	4.75	73.7%
Tower Hamlets	London	3,157	4.54	65.2%
Trafford	North West	2,190	4.68	73.2%
Tunbridge Wells	South East	1,076	4.74	79.2%
Uttlesford	East Counties	820	4.84	71.3%
Vale of Glamorgan	Wales	1,303	4.59	63.3%
Vale of White Horse	South East	1,037	4.73	73.3%
Wakefield	Yorkshire and Humberside	3,027	4.7	69.8%
Walsall	West Midlands	2,192	4.25	46.8%
Waltham Forest	London	1,989	4	47.9%
Wandsworth	London	2,894	4.63	64.7%
Warrington	North West	1,679	4.58	69.1%
Warwick	West Midlands	1,398	4.84	79.4%
Watford	East Counties	989	4.72	69.1%
Waverley	South East	1,071	4.64	70.1%
Wealden	South East	1,355	4.71	75.2%
Welwyn Hatfield	East Counties	742	4.71	68.1%
West Berkshire	South East	1,252	4.77	74.5%
West Devon	South West	634	4.76	72.2%
West Lancashire	North West	940	4.67	70.2%
West Lindsey	East Midlands	874	4.7	68.4%
West Northamptonshire	East Midlands	4,057	4.63	63.3%
West Oxfordshire	South East	1,125	4.92	84.3%
West Suffolk	East Counties	1,716	4.86	78.6%
Westminster	London	5,649	4.46	64.2%
Westmorland and Furness	North West	3,160	4.81	76%
Wigan	North West	2,548	4.19	48.9%
Wiltshire	South West	4,171	4.7	57.1%
Winchester City	South East	1,169	4.86	82.9%
Windsor and Maidenhead	South East	1,602	4.7	65.6%
Wirral	North West	2,325	4.57	69.1%
Woking	South East	764	4.46	62.8%
Wokingham	South East	1,138	4.7	75.7%
Wolverhampton	West Midlands	2,152	4.56	71.2%
Worcester City	West Midlands	840	4.7	55.2%
Worthing	South East	1,019	4.71	74.1%
Wrexham	Wales	1,197	4.94	93.4%
Wychavon	West Midlands	1,107	4.72	57%
Wyre	North West	1,032	4.38	54.4%
Wyre Forest	West Midlands	750	4.58	53.2%
York	Yorkshire and Humberside	2,140	4.61	63.6%

331 of 331 council areas.

What drives the rating: the three inspection scores

Each rating is built from three scores given at inspection. Each runs from 0 to 20, and a lower score is better. These are the national averages.

2.9Hygiene (food handling and storage)

3.8Structural (cleanliness and layout)

3.8Confidence in management

Lower is better. Hygiene is the strongest area on average (2.9); structural condition (3.8) and confidence in management (3.8) are where businesses most often lose points.

Ratings can also go stale: 33.8% of rated businesses were last inspected more than two years ago, and 23.9% more than three years ago.

Scotland: a different scheme

Scotland does not use the 0 to 5 ratings. It runs the Food Hygiene Information Scheme (FHIS), which gives a Pass or Improvement Required result. We report it separately to keep the figures accurate. Based on 58,513 establishments:

Pass and Eat Safe

0.9% (503)

Pass

72.4% (42,346)

Improvement Required

5.9% (3,443)

Exempt

3.8% (2,222)

Awaiting Inspection

17.1% (9,999)

Scotland by council

Every Scottish council, ranked by the share of its rated businesses marked Improvement Required. Aberdeen City has the highest share, at 17.3%. Glasgow City has the most in absolute terms, 586.

Read the last column before ranking these councils against each other. They are at very different stages of working through their inspection backlogs, and a council that has rated only half its register will generally have inspected the riskier businesses first, which pushes its Improvement Required share up. In Highland, 46.7% of food businesses have no published rating at all, against 0.6% in East Lothian. This is an accurate picture of what has been published. It is not a league table of which council has the worst food hygiene.

Council	Rated businesses	Improvement Required	% of rated	% of register not yet rated
Aberdeen City	1,853	320	17.3%	16.2%
Shetland Islands	175	29	16.6%	10.8%
Highland	3,009	434	14.4%	46.7%
Glasgow City	4,533	586	12.9%	30.3%
Edinburgh (City of)	4,612	570	12.4%	8.2%
South Lanarkshire	1,952	243	12.4%	18.8%
Midlothian	592	61	10.3%	3.6%
Clackmannanshire	449	37	8.2%	3.1%
Aberdeenshire	2,130	168	7.9%	15.8%
Dundee City	1,310	96	7.3%	1.8%
Stirling	1,066	77	7.2%	12.7%
Angus	920	61	6.6%	7.3%
Inverclyde	577	37	6.4%	6.5%
Argyll and Bute	736	43	5.8%	35.3%
Dumfries and Galloway	1,691	82	4.8%	15.9%
Scottish Borders	1,225	57	4.7%	19.3%
East Lothian	886	37	4.2%	0.6%
North Ayrshire	1,212	51	4.2%	7%
North Lanarkshire	2,487	105	4.2%	2.9%
Orkney Islands	370	15	4.1%	20.1%
East Ayrshire	881	35	4%	4.8%
West Dunbartonshire	648	21	3.2%	7.8%
East Dunbartonshire	607	19	3.1%	4.7%
Moray	949	24	2.5%	9.4%
Perth and Kinross	1,694	43	2.5%	14.1%
Fife	4,135	98	2.4%	14.2%
West Lothian	883	19	2.2%	20%
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles)	514	11	2.1%	6.8%
Falkirk	1,056	22	2.1%	5%
Renfrewshire	1,310	17	1.3%	2.9%
East Renfrewshire	593	7	1.2%	7.8%
South Ayrshire	971	12	1.2%	2.5%

32 of 32 Scottish councils.

Across Scotland, 3,437 of 46,026 rated businesses are marked Improvement Required (7.5%), and 17% of the register has no published rating.

Council figures are reconstructed to the 18 June 2026 extract from each business's rating date, so they match the national figures above. They account for 3,437 of the 3,443 businesses marked Improvement Required. The remaining 6 were re-rated after the extract, so they cannot be attributed to a council and are left out rather than spread across the table. The final column is the current share of each register with no published rating, which cannot be dated back because those records carry no rating date. It has barely moved: 17% now against 17.1% at the extract.

Download this table (CSV) with the raw counts for every council. Free to use with a credit to Paddl.

Methodology and sources

This report is built from the complete Food Hygiene Rating Scheme dataset published by the Food Standards Agency, covering every local authority in the UK. We aggregated all 549,668 FHRS establishments (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) plus 58,513 Scottish FHIS establishments, as extracted on 18 June 2026. Average ratings use only businesses with a numeric 1 to 5 rating; exempt and awaiting-inspection businesses are excluded from averages. Council rankings are limited to authorities with at least 250 rated businesses so that small samples do not distort the result.

Source: Food Standards Agency (ratings.food.gov.uk), Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Cite this report

Paddl (2026). UK Food Hygiene Ratings Report 2026. Data from the Food Standards Agency (Open Government Licence). https://paddl-ai.co/reports/uk-food-hygiene-ratings-2026

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UK Food Hygiene Ratings 2026 infographic

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Frequently asked questions

What percentage of UK food businesses have a 5-star food hygiene rating?

68.8% of rated food businesses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland hold the top food hygiene rating of 5, based on the complete FSA Food Hygiene Rating Scheme dataset of 549,668 establishments (as of 18 June 2026).

What is the average food hygiene rating in the UK?

The average food hygiene rating is 4.65 out of 5. Only 2.6% of businesses are rated between 0 and 2.

How many UK food businesses are rated 0?

Just 886 businesses (0.2%) hold a 0 rating, the lowest score, which is about one in 620.

Which type of food business has the lowest food hygiene ratings?

Takeaway/sandwich shop have the lowest average rating, at 4.33 out of 5: only 56.1% hold a top rating of 5 and 5.3% are rated 0 to 2, against 68.8% and 2.6% across all food businesses. School/college/university score highest, averaging 4.9.

Which UK region has the lowest food hygiene ratings?

London has the lowest average rating, at 4.46, and is the only region where fewer than six in ten businesses hold a 5 (59.9%).

Which UK council area has the worst food hygiene ratings?

Among large council areas (at least 250 rated businesses), Blaenau Gwent has the fewest top-rated: only 44.1% of its food businesses hold a 5. In total, 9 council areas have fewer than half of businesses rated 5.

How recently are UK food businesses inspected?

Inspections can be years apart: 33.8% of rated food businesses were last inspected more than two years ago, and 23.9% more than three years ago.

Does Scotland use the same food hygiene rating scheme?

No. Scotland uses the Food Hygiene Information Scheme (FHIS), which gives a Pass or Improvement Required result rather than a 0 to 5 rating. 72.4% of 58,513 Scottish establishments hold a Pass.

Keep your own rating where you want it

A food hygiene rating reflects the systems behind it: temperature records, cleaning schedules, allergen controls, and being ready when the inspector arrives. Paddl keeps all of it in one place so nothing slips between inspections.

See how Paddl works Food hygiene ratings guide