What is the average age of a UK company, and how long do companies last? (October 2026)
Key figures
Half of active UK companies are younger than 5.6 years, but a long tail of old companies pulls the average up to 9.3 years.
| Measure (1 October 2026) | Value |
|---|---|
| Median age, active companies | 5.6 years |
| Mean age, active companies | 9.3 years |
| Mean age, all live companies | 9.4 years |
| Active companies under 3 years old | 34.0% |
| Active companies under 5 years old | 46.7% |
| Active companies 10 years or older | 32.1% |
| Active companies 20 years or older | 12.5% |
| Companies with 2016 accounts still on the register | 52.2% |
Companies House gives its own figure for the whole register: an average age of 9.0 years at the end of March 2025, up from 8.7 years a year earlier (Companies register activities April 2024 to March 2025; April 2023 to March 2024). Our mean of 9.4 years for all live companies in October 2026 is consistent with that.
Median versus average age
The median is the better answer for a typical company, because about 800,000 new companies join the register every year and 7,211 active companies are more than a century old.
The mean (9.3 years) is pulled up by long-lived companies; the oldest active private limited company, Ashford Cattle Market Company Limited (00000118), was incorporated on 25 September 1856. The median (5.6 years) is the age of the company in the middle of the list. For a credit controller, the useful point is that nearly half of the companies you meet will be less than five years old and many will not yet have filed accounts.
Age by industry
Hospitality and retail companies are the youngest; households (mostly residents' management companies), agriculture and mining are the oldest.
| SIC section | Active companies | Median age (years) | Under 3 years | 10 years or older |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Households | 125,750 | 16.5 | 13.8% | 62.4% |
| Extraterritorial organisations | 546 | 12.9 | 11.5% | 66.7% |
| Mining and quarrying | 7,414 | 9.6 | 22.3% | 48.1% |
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 41,724 | 9.5 | 21.9% | 48.6% |
| Manufacturing | 210,821 | 7.5 | 29.2% | 42.0% |
| Energy supply | 16,516 | 7.5 | 22.5% | 40.8% |
| Administrative and support | 349,258 | 7.2 | 29.7% | 38.2% |
| Professional, scientific and technical | 626,454 | 6.9 | 29.8% | 37.1% |
| Water and waste | 16,069 | 6.4 | 33.1% | 37.8% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 121,574 | 6.3 | 32.2% | 35.5% |
| Construction | 503,123 | 6.0 | 31.3% | 32.7% |
| Other services | 208,255 | 5.9 | 32.2% | 30.8% |
| Health and social work | 213,169 | 5.4 | 32.2% | 30.1% |
| Real estate | 606,940 | 5.2 | 34.4% | 25.9% |
| Information and communication | 435,543 | 5.0 | 38.6% | 30.5% |
| Financial and insurance | 218,846 | 4.8 | 36.6% | 24.2% |
| Education | 104,984 | 4.6 | 38.7% | 28.2% |
| Transport and storage | 131,767 | 4.1 | 42.4% | 23.8% |
| Public administration | 8,900 | 3.6 | 43.4% | 14.3% |
| Wholesale and retail | 653,899 | 3.4 | 46.8% | 23.0% |
| Accommodation and food | 248,796 | 3.1 | 49.1% | 17.9% |
| All active UK companies | 5,166,057 | 5.6 | 34.0% | 32.1% |
At division level the extremes are wider. Among divisions with at least 5,000 active companies, insurance, reinsurance and pension funding (17.1 years) and machinery and equipment manufacturing (16.4 years) are the oldest. Food and beverage service (2.7 years) and retail trade (2.9 years) are the youngest, and more than half of their active companies are under three.
How long do UK companies last?
About half of UK companies that were filing accounts in 2016 still exist ten years later; after about five years, roughly three in four do.
| Accounts for financial year ending in | Companies | Still on register, October 2026 | Still Active, October 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2,120,854 | 52.2% | 47.4% |
| 2019 | 2,800,317 | 65.4% | 58.1% |
| 2021 | 3,220,461 | 72.8% | 65.7% |
These companies had already filed at least one set of machine-readable accounts, so they had survived their first year or two. Survival from incorporation is lower. Of the 801,864 companies Companies House recorded as incorporated between April 2024 and March 2025 (GOV.UK), only about 502,000 were still on the register on 1 October 2026, roughly 63% after 18 to 30 months. The register does not record why they left. Strike-off keeps thinning cohorts for years: the 2019 cohort shows the pattern later in life, with 19.7% of its surviving companies under a proposal to strike off. Financial health matters less than many expect: companies with negative net assets in 2016 survived 47.1% of the time against 53.3% for the rest. Details in how long UK companies survive.
The live register cannot give a median lifespan, because dissolved companies drop out of it. Companies House has historically shown that a large share of the register is young: at the end of March 2023, 50.0% of companies were under five years old and 71.8% under ten (Companies register activities 2022 to 2023). Our October 2026 figures for active companies are 46.7% and 67.9%.
Methodology
Source: our analysis of the Companies House BasicCompanyData register of 1 October 2026 (all statuses except dissolved) and about 37 million iXBRL accounts filed from 2008 to 2026. Age is measured from incorporation date to 1 October 2026 for companies with status "Active" unless stated. Industry is the first SIC code; 99999 and missing codes are excluded from sections. Survival follows every company with iXBRL accounts for a financial year ending in 2016, 2019 or 2021 and checks whether it appears on the 1 October 2026 register (any live status) and whether it is Active. Survival from incorporation compares official incorporations with companies in the register file by incorporation month and is approximate. Computed by Global Mindset Marketing Ltd. You may reuse these figures with a link to this page. More on sources: methodology.
How to cite: UK Company Data (2026). What is the average age of a UK company? Global Mindset Marketing Ltd. https://data.globalmindsetmarketing.co.uk/data/average-age-of-a-uk-company
To see when any company was incorporated and how its accounts have changed, use our company search.
FAQ
What is the average age of a UK company?
The median active UK company was 5.6 years old on 1 October 2026 and the mean was 9.3 years. Companies House reported an average age of 9.0 years for the whole register at the end of March 2025. The median is lower because so many companies are new.
How long do UK companies last?
About half last ten years once they are established: 52.2% of companies that filed accounts for 2016 were still on the register in October 2026. Early attrition is steep: roughly 37% of companies incorporated between April 2024 and March 2025 had already left the register by October 2026.
Which industries have the oldest companies?
Households, which is mostly residents' property management companies, has a median age of 16.5 years. Among trading industries, agriculture (9.5 years), mining (9.6) and manufacturing (7.5) are oldest. Insurance and pension funding, and machinery manufacturing, have medians above 16 years at division level.
Which industries have the youngest companies?
Accommodation and food (median 3.1 years) and wholesale and retail (3.4 years). In food and beverage service and retail trade, more than half of active companies are under three years old.
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