Across 359 council areas there are 62,454 takeaways and sandwich shops and 50,112 pubs, bars and clubs. Takeaways lead in 205 areas, pubs in 152. Newham tops the table with 6.61 takeaways per pub. Peterborough ranks 29th with 2.54, and the Cotswolds is the pub's last stronghold.
Britain has a new local.
It has no carpet, no quiz on a Tuesday and no landlord who remembers your name. It has a laminated menu, a hatch and a man called Dave who can get a chicken balti to Werrington in 22 minutes.
We counted every takeaway and every pub on the Food Standards Agency register, council by council, across 359 areas of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The result is not close.
Takeaways now outnumber pubs in 205 of those 359 areas. Across the whole register there are 62,454 takeaways and sandwich shops against 50,112 pubs, bars and clubs. That is 1.25 takeaways for every pub.
The pub is not dead. In 152 areas it still wins, and in a couple it is a dead heat. But the map has turned, and it turns on postcodes you might not expect.
Here is where the hatch has beaten the bar, where the bar is holding on, and how your own town did. Pull up a stool. Or a delivery app. We won't judge.
The headline numbers
Those restaurants and cafes are worth a second look. They outnumber takeaways by more than two to one, which tells you that Britain has not stopped going out to eat. It has stopped going out to drink, and started getting its dinner through the letterbox.
The national ratio of 1.25 takeaways per pub hides a huge spread. The middle area in our list sits at 1.09, close to an even split. At the top end, one London borough has more than six takeaways for every pub. At the bottom, a corner of the Cotswolds has three pubs for every takeaway.
So whether you live in Takeaway Britain or Pub Britain depends almost entirely on where you live. Which, now we write it down, is how most things work.
Where takeaways rule
To keep the ranking fair, this table only includes areas with at least 40 pubs, bars and clubs on the register. A handful of smaller areas score higher on paper because they have very few premises classed as pubs at all, and a ratio built on eight pubs tells you more about paperwork than about dinner.
| Rank | Area | Region | Takeaways | Pubs and bars | Takeaways per pub |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Newham | London | 410 | 62 | 6.61 |
| 2 | Brent | London | 503 | 80 | 6.29 |
| 3 | Croydon | London | 418 | 72 | 5.81 |
| 4 | Redbridge | London | 348 | 67 | 5.19 |
| 5 | Bury | North West | 312 | 67 | 4.66 |
| 6 | Highland | Scotland | 267 | 60 | 4.45 |
| 7 | Stevenage | East Counties | 181 | 44 | 4.11 |
| 8 | Luton | East Counties | 212 | 53 | 4.00 |
| 9 | Lewisham | London | 363 | 91 | 3.99 |
| 10 | Leicester | East Midlands | 605 | 154 | 3.93 |
Four of the top five are London boroughs, and it is not hard to see why. Dense streets, lots of flats with small kitchens, and long working hours make a hatch on every corner a sound business. Newham has 410 takeaways and sandwich shops and just 62 premises classed as pubs, bars or clubs.
The surprises are further down. Bury in Greater Manchester sits fifth, ahead of every big city outside London. Stevenage and Luton both make the top ten, which makes Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire the unexpected chip-shop belt of the East.
And then there is Highland, at sixth. The Highlands are not short of places to drink, so treat that one with a pinch of salt and vinegar. Councils decide how each premises is classed, and plenty of Highland pubs sit on the register as hotels or restaurants instead. We cover that in the method section, because we are that kind of nerd.
Leicester rounds off the ten with 605 takeaways, the most of any area in the table. If you have ever walked down the Golden Mile at teatime, you will not be shocked.
Where the pub still wins
At the other end, rural Britain is still pub country. These are the areas where pubs, bars and clubs most outnumber takeaways.
| Area | Region | Takeaways | Pubs and bars | Takeaways per pub |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cotswold | South West | 43 | 140 | 0.31 |
| Epping Forest | East Counties | 42 | 114 | 0.37 |
| Derbyshire Dales | East Midlands | 58 | 157 | 0.37 |
| Powys | Wales | 111 | 281 | 0.40 |
| South Hams | South West | 53 | 130 | 0.41 |
| Malvern Hills | West Midlands | 38 | 90 | 0.42 |
| West Devon | South West | 31 | 71 | 0.44 |
| South Staffordshire | West Midlands | 61 | 140 | 0.44 |
| East Hampshire | South East | 67 | 154 | 0.44 |
| South Cambridgeshire | East Counties | 59 | 131 | 0.45 |
The pattern is easy to read. Villages keep their pubs because the pub is often the only thing in the village. A takeaway needs a crowd within a ten-minute drive. A pub needs a crowd within a ten-minute stagger.
Powys stands out. It has 281 pubs, bars and clubs, more than any other area in this table, spread across a county that is mostly hills and sheep. If you are ever lost in mid Wales, walk downhill. There will be a pub.
The Cotswolds take the crown with more than three pubs for every takeaway. Honey-coloured stone, thatched roofs and a gastropub that will do you a burger for the price of a small car. It is not a takeaway sort of place. It is barely a "we take cards" sort of place.
Region by region
Zoom out to the twelve regions on the register and the north-south split is plain. London is out on its own. The South West and the South East are the only regions where pubs still outnumber takeaways.
Takeaways for every pub, by region
Source: Who Do I Call? analysis of the Food Standards Agency register, November 2026. Takeaways and sandwich shops per pub, bar or club.
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London has 9,125 takeaways and sandwich shops against 3,698 pubs, bars and clubs, almost two and a half to one. Northern Ireland and Scotland come next, then the big urban regions of the North West and Yorkshire.
Wales is the closest thing to a draw, with 3,175 takeaways and 3,123 pubs, bars and clubs. Fifty-two premises in it. Very Welsh. Very fair.
The South West is the last stronghold of the pub, with 5,117 pubs, bars and clubs and 4,058 takeaways. Cider has a lot to answer for.
Peterborough and Spalding
Who Do I Call? started in Peterborough and Spalding, so we looked at home first.
Peterborough is firmly Takeaway Britain. It has 201 takeaways and sandwich shops against 79 pubs, bars and clubs. That is 2.54 takeaways for every pub, which puts the city 29th out of 359 areas, and fourth in the East behind Stevenage, Luton and Thurrock.
Anyone who has driven down Lincoln Road on a Friday evening will nod at this. The city has plenty of good pubs, but it has a lot more places that will hand you a naan through a hatch.
South Holland, the council area around Spalding, is much closer to the middle. It has 76 takeaways and sandwich shops and 57 pubs, bars and clubs, a ratio of 1.33. That ranks it 137th, a little above the national middle of 1.09.
So Peterborough leans heavily towards the hatch, while Spalding and its villages keep a fairer balance, helped by the country pubs dotted across the Fens.
Nearby, Fenland sits at 1.26 and Huntingdonshire at 0.98, where the pubs just about edge it. Cambridge comes in at 0.90, so the university city still has more places to drink than places to collect a kebab. Make of that what you will.
Why the pub is losing ground
The numbers on the register are a snapshot, but the trend behind them is well documented. According to the British Beer and Pub Association, 295 pubs had closed for good by the end of September 2026, with around 360 expected by the end of the year. That is roughly one a day.
The first three months of 2026 were the worst stretch, with 161 pubs closing, about two a day, up 26% on the same period in 2025. The same figures show the number of pubs falling from 46,829 in 2020 to 44,656 in 2025.
The trade body points to costs: business rates, energy, wages and duty. A pub has a big building to heat, staff on every shift and a licence to keep, and it needs people to come out and stay out.
A takeaway can run on a small unit, a short menu and a phone. It does not need anyone to stay at all. In fact it prefers you didn't. Ideally you are already on your sofa.
Why takeaways keep opening
We can count takeaways, but we cannot see inside every owner's head, so take these as the likely reasons rather than gospel.
Delivery apps changed the maths. A takeaway no longer needs a busy street outside. It needs a kitchen inside the radius of a delivery app. That opens up cheaper units in places a pub could never survive.
Set-up is lighter. A small takeaway needs a fit-out, a food hygiene registration and a decent fryer. A pub needs a premises licence, a building that is often listed and old, and a cellar that behaves itself.
Habits shifted. More of us eat at home, especially midweek. A takeaway fits a Tuesday. A pub, for a lot of people, has become a Saturday.
Sandwich shops count too. The register lumps takeaways and sandwich shops together, so the lunchtime trade in town centres and business parks adds to the takeaway side of the ledger. Your meal deal is part of this story.
How we worked it out
Every food business in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland has to register with its local council, and those records feed the Food Standards Agency's public register. We used the official FSA data feed, published under the Open Government Licence.
For each council area we counted three types of premises as the register classes them: "Takeaway/sandwich shop", "Pub/bar/nightclub" and "Restaurant/Cafe/Canteen". We then divided takeaways by pubs to get the ratio. The figures were pulled on 9 November 2026.
A few honest caveats, because data without caveats is just a rumour with a spreadsheet:
- Councils decide how each premises is classed. A pub that does food might be filed as a restaurant, and a country inn as a hotel. That is why Highland scores so high.
- "Pub/bar/nightclub" includes bars and clubs, not only traditional pubs. "Takeaway/sandwich shop" includes sandwich shops.
- The register counts premises, not how busy they are. One huge pub and one tiny hatch each count as one.
- For the top ten we only ranked areas with at least 40 pubs, bars and clubs, so tiny counts do not skew the list. We left out port health authorities, which cover docks rather than towns.
Journalists and researchers can download the full table for every area on our press page, free with a link back.
Find your area
Every one of the 359 areas has its own page on Who Do I Call?, with its takeaways-per-pub figure, its national rank and a full list of local takeaways, pubs, restaurants, hotels and food shops.
Search for your town on the home page, then scroll to "in numbers" on your area page. If you run a local website, blog or community group, each area has a free stat card you can embed, with the code right there on the page.
Need something other than dinner? A roofer, a plumber, a locksmith at midnight? Tell us the job and we will find someone local.
Questions people ask
🍟Are there more takeaways than pubs?
Yes. On the Food Standards Agency register there are 62,454 takeaways and sandwich shops and 50,112 pubs, bars and clubs, 1.25 takeaways for every pub. Takeaways lead in 205 of 359 council areas.
🏆Which area has the most takeaways per pub?
Among areas with at least 40 pubs, bars and clubs, Newham in London leads with 6.61 takeaways for every pub, followed by Brent and Croydon.
🍺Where do pubs still outnumber takeaways?
Mostly rural areas. The Cotswolds has more than three pubs for every takeaway, followed by Epping Forest, Derbyshire Dales, Powys and South Hams.
📍How does Peterborough compare?
Peterborough has 2.54 takeaways for every pub, ranking 29th of 359 areas. South Holland, around Spalding, has 1.33 and ranks 137th.
📉How many pubs are closing in 2026?
The British Beer and Pub Association reported 295 closures by the end of September 2026 and expects around 360 by the end of the year, about one a day.
📊Can I use this data?
Yes. The full table is free to download from our press page. Please credit Who Do I Call? with a link.
Now go and order something. Or go to the pub. Ideally both, in that order.
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