UK Food Hygiene Ratings Report 2026
How 549,661 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.
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 17 June 2026.
Notable findings
How UK food businesses are rated
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 region
| Region | Businesses | Average rating | % rated 5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| London | 80,651 | 4.46 | 59.9% |
| South East | 78,978 | 4.71 | 72.7% |
| North West | 65,040 | 4.58 | 65.8% |
| South West | 53,887 | 4.77 | 73.1% |
| East Counties | 53,716 | 4.73 | 72.4% |
| Yorkshire and Humberside | 50,209 | 4.66 | 67.7% |
| West Midlands | 49,892 | 4.57 | 64.4% |
| East Midlands | 43,669 | 4.74 | 74.3% |
| Wales | 33,791 | 4.63 | 67.8% |
| North East | 22,936 | 4.74 | 75.1% |
| Northern Ireland | 16,892 | 4.77 | 76.2% |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurant/Cafe/Canteen | 127,235 | 4.6 |
| Retailers - other | 109,102 | 4.51 |
| Other catering premises | 67,981 | 4.85 |
| Takeaway/sandwich shop | 56,748 | 4.33 |
| Pub/bar/nightclub | 46,596 | 4.66 |
| Caring Premises | 38,676 | 4.84 |
| School/college/university | 32,734 | 4.9 |
| Mobile caterer | 28,028 | 4.82 |
| Retailers - supermarkets/hypermarkets | 14,546 | 4.79 |
| Hotel/bed & breakfast/guest house | 11,590 | 4.79 |
| Manufacturers/packers | 9,691 | 4.76 |
| Distributors/Transporters | 4,049 | 4.76 |
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 3.98, almost a full rating point apart between the highest and lowest scoring council areas.
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
- Newham3.98 (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)
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.
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:
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 549,661 FHRS establishments (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) plus 58,513 Scottish FHIS establishments, as published on 17 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
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.