UK extraterritorial organisation companies in numbers (October 2026)
Key figures compared with the UK
| Measure | This sector | All UK | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active companies | 546 | 5,166,057 | 0.0% of UK |
| Median company age (years) | 12.9 | 5.6 | 130% higher |
| Incorporated in the last 3 years | 11.5% | 34.0% | 22.5 pts lower |
| Filing micro-entity accounts | 31.3% | 32.4% | close to UK |
| Filing dormant accounts | 21.8% | 10.8% | 11.0 pts higher |
| Accounts overdue | 4.0% | 1.8% | 2.2 pts higher |
| Under a proposal to strike off | 10.4% | 7.4% | 3.0 pts higher |
| In liquidation, administration or receivership | 1.1% | 2.0% | 0.9 pts lower |
| With outstanding charges (secured lending) | 7.7% | 12.1% | 4.4 pts lower |
| Median net assets | £2,832 | £3,113 | close to UK |
| Negative net assets | 11.1% | 18.8% | 7.7 pts lower |
| Net current liabilities | 25.1% | 36.2% | 11.1 pts lower |
| Median cash at bank | £6,304 | £10k | 38% lower |
| Cash covers creditors due within a year | 53.6% | 35.3% | 18.3 pts higher |
| Holding £100k or more in cash | 18.2% | 20.3% | 2.1 pts lower |
| Median employees (where stated) | 0 | 1 | 100% lower |
Balance sheet measures use each active company's most recent machine-readable (iXBRL) accounts with a period ending in 2024 or later: 409 companies here (74.9% of active). Net assets 25th to 75th percentile: £1 to £50k. Cash 25th to 75th percentile: £100 to £49k.
What the numbers say
The single code in this section, 99000 activities of extraterritorial organisations and bodies, is meant for international bodies and foreign missions. Such organisations are rarely UK limited companies, so the 617 live companies using it are likely a mix of entities linked to international or foreign organisations and companies that picked the code for other reasons. With so few companies, one or two filings can move a percentage noticeably.
Three differences from the UK average stand out:
- Age: a median of 12.9 years, and 66.7% old companies against 32.1%. Very few new companies choose this code: only 11 to 30 of today's active companies were incorporated in each year since 2016.
- Dormant and overdue: 21.8% dormant and 4% overdue with accounts, against 10.8% and 1.8%. Companies kept for a specific purpose often have little activity. See dormant companies and overdue accounts.
- Liquidity: a median current ratio of 1.96 against 1.19, with 11.1% reporting negative net assets against 18.8%.
The negative net assets share has been volatile: 16.9% for financial years ending in 2014 and 11.4% in 2025, while the UK went from 16.4% to 18.6%. Negative net assets are a warning sign, not proof of insolvency. For any company in this group, check the company directly rather than relying on sector averages, or compare with public administration.
Share with negative net assets, 2014 to 2025
Share of accounts with net liabilities (total liabilities larger than total assets) by financial year end, for companies on the live register. Dissolved companies are not included because the register no longer lists their industry, so earlier years show survivors. Negative net assets is a warning sign, not proof of insolvency: see what negative net assets means.
Accounts types filed
| Type of last accounts | Share here | Share UK |
|---|---|---|
| Micro-entity | 31.3% | 32.4% |
| Total exemption full | 26.2% | 23.8% |
| Dormant | 21.8% | 10.8% |
| No accounts filed yet | 7.9% | 26.0% |
| Full (audited) | 4.0% | 1.5% |
| Small | 3.3% | 1.2% |
| Unaudited abridged | 2.9% | 2.9% |
| Group | 1.6% | 0.5% |
The type shows how much a company has to disclose. Micro-entity and abridged accounts contain no profit and loss account on the public record. Read more about accounts categories and micro-entities.
Active companies by year of incorporation
Companies incorporated in each year that are still active today. Younger cohorts are larger partly because older ones have been dissolved.
Most common activity codes
| SIC | Activity | Live companies |
|---|---|---|
| 99000 | Activities of extraterritorial organizations and bodies | 617 |
Methodology
Industry is the first SIC code each company declares on the Companies House register (snapshot 1 October 2026); the dormant placeholder 99999 is excluded. Status, accounts type and due dates come from the register. Financial measures come from our parse of 37 million iXBRL accounts filed since 2008; values above £100bn are treated as extraction errors. Companies filing paper or PDF accounts are not in the balance sheet figures. Full details: methodology.
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