This was 4.6% lower than from a year earlier reported the Financial Services Authority in its Product Sales Data report.
The FSA attributed the decline to mergers, acquisitions and firms leaving the market.
The number of provider firms rose in Q3 2010 but has fallen ever since, reaching their lowest level since firms started reporting PSD. In the same period, the number of selling firms also declined by 5.2%.
In the last three quarters, the fall in the number of provider firms exceeded the fall in selling firms.
The PSD report said it was partly because several of the non-deposit takers which are also provider firms, such as specialised mortgage lenders which offer credit to customers with impaired credit history, have been unable to obtain funding to continue their mortgage business.
