How many companies are incorporated in the UK each year? (October 2026)

Key figures

Around 800,000 companies are incorporated in the UK every year, and almost as many are dissolved.

Official incorporations by financial year

Companies House publishes incorporations by financial year (April to March), and the last four years range from 801,006 to 890,684.

Incorporations rose 1.67% in the year to March 2026 while dissolutions rose 8.31%, so the register grew by only 51,258 companies.

Official incorporations by quarter, 2025 and 2026

Calendar 2025 had 821,780 incorporations when the four quarterly releases are added together.

The calendar-year total is our sum of figures as first published; Companies House may revise them. July to September 2026 is due on 29 October 2026.

Survivors: companies still on the register by year of incorporation

The live register counts only companies that still exist, so older years look much smaller than the number actually formed.

Source: our count of the Companies House BasicCompanyData file of 1 October 2026. Statuses other than Active include proposals to strike off and liquidation; the full breakdown is in UK company survival by incorporation year.

Two different counts: incorporations versus survivors

Official statistics count every company formed in a period; the register file counts only those still alive today, and the gap between the two grows quickly with age.

For the most recent months the two sources almost match (April to June 2026: 192,287 official, 193,668 in the register file), which shows the register file has a slightly wider scope. For older periods the gap is real attrition: of companies formed between April 2024 and March 2025, about 37% had already left the register by October 2026. Shares are approximate because the two sources are built differently.

The 2025 cohort

715,974 companies formed in 2025 are still live, against 471,944 from 2024, but official figures show incorporations barely changed between the two years.

Official incorporations were 801,864 in the year to March 2025 and 815,277 in the year to March 2026, a rise of 1.67%. Most of the 52% gap between the two cohorts on the live register is therefore survivorship: the 2024 cohort has had a year longer to be struck off or dissolved. The mix of activities did change:

• Online retail: 45,205 surviving 2025 companies give SIC 47910 (retail via mail order or internet) as their activity, against 17,880 from 2024.
• Retail trade leads: division 47 has 89,711 surviving 2025 companies, ahead of real estate (81,685) and food and beverage service (45,745).
• Formation agent addresses: the two most common registered office postcodes of 2025 companies, WC2H 9JQ and EC1V 2NX, host 22,499 and 18,083 of them.
• Early strike-off: 71,782 companies formed in 2025 were already under a proposal to strike off, 10.0% of active and proposed.

Their first accounts, due 21 months after incorporation, will show from late 2026 how many trade. More on the activity codes in the most common SIC codes in the UK and on strike-off in how many UK companies are being struck off.

Methodology

Official figures: Companies House statistical releases linked in the tables, which cover all corporate body types on the register. Survivors: our count of the Companies House Free Company Data Product (BasicCompanyData) of 1 October 2026, by incorporation date, all statuses except dissolved. Period sums for survivors use incorporation month. Industry is the first SIC code. 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). How many companies are incorporated in the UK each year? Global Mindset Marketing Ltd. https://data.globalmindsetmarketing.co.uk/data/uk-incorporations-by-year

To check when a company was incorporated and whether it has filed accounts yet, use our company search.

FAQ

How many companies were incorporated in the UK in 2025?

821,780, adding the four Companies House quarterly releases for January to December 2025 as first published. By financial year, 815,277 companies were incorporated between April 2025 and March 2026. On 1 October 2026, 715,974 companies formed in 2025 were still on the register.

How many new companies are registered in the UK each year?

Between 800,000 and 890,000 in each of the last four financial years: 801,006 in the year to March 2023, 890,684 to March 2024, 801,864 to March 2025 and 815,277 to March 2026. Dissolutions have risen faster, reaching 787,120 in the year to March 2026.

Why does the register show fewer companies for older years?

The Companies House register file lists only companies that have not been dissolved. Each cohort shrinks as companies are struck off or wound up, so only 176,630 companies formed in 2015 remain live today. To count companies formed in a year, use the official incorporation statistics, not the live register.

Was there a surge in new companies in 2025?

Not in the official numbers: incorporations rose 1.67% in the year to March 2026. The live register shows 52% more 2025 companies than 2024 ones mainly because the 2024 cohort has had longer to lose members. What did change is the mix, with far more online retail companies.

Sources: Companies House register and accounts data (Open Government Licence v3.0), legislation.gov.uk and GOV.UK guidance where linked. Our figures and charts on this page are licensed under CC BY 4.0: reuse them freely, citing "UK Company Data, Global Mindset Marketing Ltd" with a link to this page. This page is general information, not legal, tax or credit advice. Spotted an error? Email info@globalmindsetmarketing.co.uk.