Hundreds of thousands of the UK's smallest businesses risk going to the wall this year as costs keep rising, a report has revealed.

The owners of nearly one in eight microbusinesses - defined as employing fewer than 10 people - fear they will have to fold, equating to 630,000 businesses, according to the annual Venture Forward study by website builder GoDaddy.

The annual study found that only a fifth of microbusiness owners think the government is doing enough, Sky News reported.

More than three-quarters also described the cost of living crisis as the greatest challenge they've ever faced, with the price of energy the biggest single concern.

Andrew Gradon, GoDaddy's UK manager, said microbusinesses represent 96% of all businesses within the country's private sector.

He was quoted on Sky News as saying: "They are the lifeblood of businesses in the UK and it's them that are on the frontline very much feeling the direct impact of the cost of living crisis.

"Around 42% said that they wanted support with tax incentives but also looking more broadly to business support - so looking at technical assistance for business development as well as support for digital strategy."

The study estimates that if the 12% of microbusinesses under threat went under, it would wipe £12bn from the economy.

The data also shows that the cost of living crisis is having a disproportionate impact on microbusinesses owned by underrepresented entrepreneurs.

A total of 85% of black entrepreneurs described it as the worst time they can remember, as did 84% of those who are Asian compared with 75% of white entrepreneurs.

The government has said it is providing businesses with billions of pounds of support, meaning some will be paying around half of predicted wholesale energy costs this winter.

Last week, Punchline revealed that 21,109 British businesses went under last year.