How long do UK companies survive? Survivors by incorporation year (October 2026)
Key findings
- 52.2% of companies that filed accounts for financial years ending in 2016 were still on the Companies House register on 1 October 2026.
- Companies with negative net assets in 2016 survived almost as often as those with positive net assets: 47.1% were still on the register, against 53.3%.
- 19.7% of surviving companies incorporated in 2019 were under a proposal to strike off on 1 October 2026, against 5.5% of the 2021 cohort.
- 715,974 companies incorporated in 2025 were on the register on 1 October 2026, 52% more than the 471,944 surviving from 2024.
- 45,205 surviving companies formed in 2025 declare online or mail order retail (SIC 47910) as their activity, 2.5 times the 17,880 from 2024.
Key figures
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Companies on the register, all live statuses | 5,704,712 |
| Active | 5,166,057 |
| Active, proposal to strike off | 423,006 |
| In liquidation | 108,330 |
| In administration | 3,709 |
| Live companies incorporated in 2015 | 176,630 |
| Live companies incorporated in 2025 | 715,974 |
| Live companies incorporated in 2026 (to 1 October) | 592,744 |
| Oldest active entity (Royal Charter) | 1327 |
| Oldest active private limited companies | 1856 |
Survivors, not incorporations
The register file counts only companies that still exist, so every figure by incorporation year is a count of survivors. When a company is dissolved it leaves the Companies House BasicCompanyData file, so a cohort shrinks every year as its members are struck off or wound up.
That is why 2015 shows 176,630 companies and 2025 shows 715,974: the older cohort has had eleven years to lose members, the newer one less than two. The register alone cannot tell you how many companies were formed in 2015, only how many are left. For survival rates we therefore use a second source: companies that filed accounts for a given year, which we can follow to the 2026 register (see below).
Status of survivors by incorporation year
Strike-off proposals are concentrated in the 2018 and 2019 cohorts and again in 2025.
| Incorporated | Live | Active | Proposal to strike off | Insolvency | Strike-off share | Insolvency share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 11,293 | 10,152 | 141 | 993 | 1.4% | 8.8% |
| 2000 | 33,113 | 31,052 | 794 | 1,260 | 2.5% | 3.8% |
| 2010 | 84,875 | 77,480 | 4,567 | 2,805 | 5.6% | 3.3% |
| 2015 | 176,630 | 153,090 | 18,279 | 5,227 | 10.7% | 3.0% |
| 2017 | 215,233 | 180,453 | 28,520 | 6,224 | 13.6% | 2.9% |
| 2018 | 246,571 | 199,054 | 40,417 | 7,080 | 16.9% | 2.9% |
| 2019 | 288,149 | 225,291 | 55,098 | 7,734 | 19.7% | 2.7% |
| 2020 | 274,082 | 247,388 | 21,765 | 4,905 | 8.1% | 1.8% |
| 2021 | 290,501 | 270,951 | 15,698 | 3,828 | 5.5% | 1.3% |
| 2022 | 322,573 | 302,359 | 16,967 | 3,237 | 5.3% | 1.0% |
| 2023 | 404,159 | 376,659 | 24,664 | 2,833 | 6.1% | 0.7% |
| 2024 | 471,944 | 436,534 | 33,743 | 1,666 | 7.2% | 0.4% |
| 2025 | 715,974 | 643,753 | 71,782 | 439 | 10.0% | 0.1% |
Strike-off share is of active plus proposed companies; insolvency share (liquidation, administration and similar) is of all live companies in the cohort. One in five surviving 2019 companies is on its way off the register, against one in eighteen from 2021. The status follows a first notice in The Gazette, which is published both when directors apply to close a company and when the registrar starts compulsory strike-off (GOV.UK, striking off a company), so the register does not say which route applies. More detail by industry and region is in our strike-off study, and the process is explained in first Gazette notice for compulsory strike-off.
Insolvency rises with cohort age because a company in liquidation stays on the register until the process ends and it is dissolved, which can take years.
The 2025 incorporation surge
Far more companies formed in 2025 survive than from any earlier year, and the growth is uneven across industries.
| SIC section | Active, incorporated 2024 | Active, incorporated 2025 | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| G Wholesale and retail | 62,999 | 117,388 | 1.86 |
| H Transport and storage | 11,895 | 20,700 | 1.74 |
| J Information and communication | 35,044 | 58,923 | 1.68 |
| C Manufacturing | 14,653 | 23,276 | 1.59 |
| I Accommodation and food | 28,674 | 45,410 | 1.58 |
| F Construction | 40,207 | 55,530 | 1.38 |
| M Professional, scientific, technical | 49,296 | 66,650 | 1.35 |
| L Real estate | 61,633 | 77,341 | 1.25 |
Online and mail order retail (SIC 47910) leads the jump, from 17,880 to 45,205 companies. Formation agent addresses dominate: the two most common registered office postcodes for 2025 companies, WC2H 9JQ and EC1V 2NX, host 22,499 and 18,083 of them. Part of the gap is survivorship, because the 2024 cohort has had a year longer to lose members. The other limit is plainer: we cannot tell from the register how many of these companies are genuine trading businesses and how many will never trade. Their first accounts, usually due 21 months after incorporation, will start to answer that from late 2026. You can look up what any activity code means with our SIC code lookup.
Survival by financial health
Weak balance sheets predict failure less strongly than many people expect: the gap between companies with negative and positive net assets is real but small.
| Accounts for | Net assets | Companies | Still on register 2026 | Still Active 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2016 | Positive or zero | 1,732,210 | 53.3% | 48.8% |
| FY2016 | Negative | 388,644 | 47.1% | 41.0% |
| FY2019 | Positive or zero | 2,349,247 | 65.8% | 58.9% |
| FY2019 | Negative | 451,070 | 63.1% | 53.8% |
| FY2021 | Positive or zero | 2,673,731 | 73.1% | 66.8% |
| FY2021 | Negative | 546,730 | 71.5% | 60.3% |
Ten years on, 47.1% of companies that reported negative net assets for 2016 still exist, only 6.2 percentage points fewer than those with positive net assets. On the stricter "still Active" test the gap is 7.8 points for 2016 and 6.5 points for 2021. Negative net assets often reflect director loans or start-up losses in companies that keep trading, and some healthy-looking companies close voluntarily when the owner retires or moves on. Treat negative net assets as a reason to look closer, not a forecast of failure; see negative net assets explained and our study of UK companies with negative net assets.
The oldest survivors
The oldest active entities on the register are Royal Charter bodies, and the oldest private limited companies date from 1856.
| Entity | Type | Founded |
|---|---|---|
| The Wardens and the Commonalty of the Mystery of Goldsmiths of the City of London (RC000941) | Royal Charter | 1327 |
| Worshipful Company of Cutlers | Royal Charter | 1416 |
| Worshipful Company of Brewers | Royal Charter | 1437 |
| Ashford Cattle Market Company Limited (00000118) | Private limited | 25 September 1856 |
| Oriental Gas Company | Private limited | 1856 |
| British India Steam Navigation Company | Private limited | 1856 |
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, parsed by us. Survivors by incorporation year count live companies only. Survival by financial health 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 ("still on register", any live status) and whether its status is Active. Net assets are as filed. Accounts filed on paper or as PDF are excluded from financial figures. Coverage for 2010 to 2013 is incomplete. Values above £100bn are treated as parsing errors. Full details: methodology.
How to cite: UK Company Data (2026). How long do UK companies survive? Global Mindset Marketing Ltd. https://data.globalmindsetmarketing.co.uk/data/uk-company-survival-by-incorporation-year
To check whether a particular company is still active and how its net assets have moved, search it on our company search.
FAQ
How long do UK companies survive?
About half last ten years. Of companies that filed accounts for financial years ending in 2016, 52.2% were still on the register on 1 October 2026. For companies with 2021 accounts the figure was 72.8% after about five years. These figures cover companies that filed machine-readable accounts, so companies that closed before filing anything are not included.
Do companies with negative net assets fail more often?
Somewhat, but less than many expect. 47.1% of companies with negative net assets in 2016 were still on the register in 2026, against 53.3% with positive net assets. For 2021 accounts the gap was 1.6 percentage points. Negative net assets are a warning sign worth checking, not a prediction.
Why were so many companies formed in 2025?
715,974 companies incorporated in 2025 were still on the register on 1 October 2026, against 471,944 from 2024. Online retail (SIC 47910) grew 2.5 times, and formation agent addresses account for many registrations. The register does not show how many are genuine trading businesses.
What is the oldest company in the UK?
The oldest active entity on the Companies House register is the Goldsmiths' Company, a Royal Charter body dating from 1327. The oldest active private limited company is Ashford Cattle Market Company Limited, number 00000118, incorporated on 25 September 1856.
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