Britain's tanning salons top 3,000 for the first time

Britain is bucking the European trend on sunbeds. New analysis by international business database companydata.com shows that the number of tanning salons in the UK has risen by 47 percent since 2016, from 2,103 to 3,095, and passed the 3,000 mark for the first time this year. Elsewhere in Europe the number of salons is flat or falling. Within the UK, salon density follows income: the four regions with the highest disposable income per head are the four with the fewest salons per person.

Steady growth, with a pandemic dip

The number of tanning salons in the UK has grown every year since 2016, from 2,103 to 3,095. Up to 2019 around 175 salons a year were added. The pandemic years slowed that to 40 to 50 a year, and growth settled at around 70 a year after that. So far this year the total has risen by 126, the largest increase since 2019 and enough to carry it past 3,000.

Number of tanning salons in the UK, 2016-2026. Source: companydata.com, Companies House.

Per head of population the gap is just as wide. The UK has about 4.5 tanning salons per 100,000 people. The Netherlands, Germany and Belgium each have around 2.3, half the British figure. Only Denmark (2.8) comes close.

Sunbeds follow income

Within the UK, sunbeds are a northern habit. The North East of England, covering the Newcastle, Sunderland, Durham, Darlington and Teesside postcode areas, has 233 salons: about 8.5 per 100,000 people, almost twice the national average. Northern Ireland follows with 102 salons, or 5.3 per 100,000. At the other end, the South West (2.7 per 100,000), the South East (3.0) and London (3.2) have the fewest. Set against disposable income per head, the pattern across the twelve UK regions is consistent: the richer the region, the fewer the tanning salons. The North East has the lowest income per head in Britain and the most salons; London has the highest income and, with the South East and South West, among the fewest.

Tanning salons per 100,000 people by UK region (2026) against gross disposable household income per head (2024). Source: companydata.com, Companies House, ONS.

The rest of Europe is standing still

Across Europe, companydata.com counts 7,745 tanning salons; the UK alone accounts for 3,095 of them, or 40 percent. But the picture on the Continent is different. In most European countries the number of tanning salons has been flat for years, with a slight decline since the pandemic. Germany, the second-largest market with 1,929 salons, has been shrinking every year, from 2,286 salons in 2016 to 1,929 now, a fall of 16 percent. The sharpest fall is in the Netherlands, from 535 salons in 2016 to 420 on 1 January 2026, down 21 percent. Excluding the UK, Europe counted 5,167 salons in 2016 and 4,650 today, a fall of 10 percent. Add the UK back in and the European total still rose, from 7,270 to 7,745: all of that growth came from Britain. Britain is the only major European market where the number is still growing.

Tanning salons by country, October 2026, top 10 in Europe. Source: companydata.com, national business registers.

Uttam Ramdaras, Data Analyst at companydata.com, said: "Across Europe tanning salons have been quietly coming off the registers for years. Britain is the exception, and the growth is not in London or the Home Counties but in the North East and the North West. Line the regions up by income and the pattern is hard to miss: the less people earn, the more sunbed shops there are. The data does not tell you why, but it tells you where."

About companydata.com:

Companydata.com is an international business database covering 386 million companies in 200 countries, built on official trade registers such as Companies House in the UK and the Dutch Chamber of Commerce. From its Amsterdam headquarters, the company delivers this data as datasets and through its real-time company data API, used for identity verification, market research, CRM and compliance. Its sector statistics are regularly cited by national and trade media across Europe and the US.

Note to the editor:

Please publish a link to our source page when you use our data. Need more figures or information? Just ask us for more data. Methodology: companydata.com counted active, standalone tanning salons in 31 European countries in October 2026 and at the start of 2016, based on official business registers (Companies House for the UK, the Dutch Chamber of Commerce for the Netherlands and their equivalents elsewhere), supplemented with companydata.com's own activity and location data. Sunbeds inside gyms, spas and beauty salons are not counted. UK regional figures are based on postcode areas and are approximate; the income comparison uses ONS gross disposable household income per head by region (2024) and ONS mid-year population estimates. Dutch figures are as of 1 January each year. 2026 figures are year to date. If you need more information, please get in touch with Daan Wolff via +31 20 705 2360 or d.wolff@companydata.com