Company survival rates
Of the companies incorporated each year, how many are still active — snapshot 2026-11-14.
Of the 1,514,800 UK companies incorporated in 2020, 31.2% are still active today. Survival for every incorporation year is charted below — the register's own answer to how long companies live.
Still-active share by incorporation year
Percentage of each year's incorporations still active on the register today. Recent years are high by construction — companies have had less time to die.
Survival by age — does mortality fall over time?
Reading the same data by company AGE (fully observed cohorts only, 2005 onwards): mortality is overwhelmingly front-loaded. By age 6, only 31.2% of companies are still active — yet the following 15 years cost just another -2.8 points: a company that reaches age 6 has a 109% chance of still being active at 21. Company lifetimes are nothing like normally distributed — the hazard is enormous at the start and falls with every year survived. Not immortality, but strongly age-hardening survival.
Share of companies still active, by years since incorporation (x-axis is age). Cohorts before ~2005 are excluded: Companies House removes records dissolved more than 20 years ago, which would overstate old cohorts' survival. Each age is a different cohort observed today, not one cohort tracked through time.
Survival by cohort
| Incorporated in | Companies | Still active | Survival |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 1,514,800 | 471,939 | 31.2% |
| 2019 | 1,344,926 | 430,024 | 32.0% |
| 2018 | 1,302,822 | 379,890 | 29.2% |
| 2017 | 1,233,554 | 340,161 | 27.6% |
| 2016 | 1,197,159 | 305,738 | 25.5% |
| 2015 | 1,027,409 | 282,925 | 27.5% |
| 2014 | 980,085 | 257,448 | 26.3% |
| 2013 | 900,479 | 221,216 | 24.6% |
| 2012 | 825,092 | 193,103 | 23.4% |
| 2011 | 748,300 | 169,060 | 22.6% |
| 2010 | 643,579 | 142,342 | 22.1% |
| 2009 | 533,719 | 117,234 | 22.0% |
| 2008 | 425,892 | 105,103 | 24.7% |
| 2007 | 411,860 | 115,528 | 28.1% |
| 2006 | 322,270 | 104,519 | 32.4% |
| 2005 | 270,971 | 92,104 | 34.0% |
| 2004 | 237,519 | 86,694 | 36.5% |
| 2003 | 291,503 | 110,440 | 37.9% |
| 2002 | 213,400 | 83,617 | 39.2% |
| 2001 | 132,460 | 53,681 | 40.5% |
| 2000 | 124,136 | 51,009 | 41.1% |
| 1999 | 105,746 | 44,818 | 42.4% |
| 1998 | 90,873 | 38,486 | 42.4% |
| 1997 | 80,931 | 34,951 | 43.2% |
| 1996 | 63,278 | 28,338 | 44.8% |
| 1995 | 51,443 | 23,085 | 44.9% |
| 1994 | 43,629 | 20,292 | 46.5% |
| 1993 | 37,027 | 17,917 | 48.4% |
| 1992 | 32,031 | 15,821 | 49.4% |
| 1991 | 29,968 | 15,034 | 50.2% |
| 1990 | 30,119 | 15,181 | 50.4% |
| 1989 | 31,748 | 16,110 | 50.7% |
| 1988 | 31,160 | 16,222 | 52.1% |
| 1987 | 29,729 | 15,555 | 52.3% |
| 1986 | 26,797 | 13,981 | 52.2% |
| 1985 | 21,516 | 11,061 | 51.4% |
| 1984 | 18,913 | 10,006 | 52.9% |
| 1983 | 17,538 | 9,331 | 53.2% |
| 1982 | 16,909 | 9,293 | 55.0% |
| 1981 | 17,559 | 11,362 | 64.7% |
| 1980 | 11,613 | 5,904 | 50.8% |
| 1979 | 10,722 | 5,455 | 50.9% |
| 1978 | 11,055 | 5,805 | 52.5% |
| 1977 | 8,975 | 4,698 | 52.3% |
| 1976 | 8,729 | 4,645 | 53.2% |
| 1975 | 7,270 | 3,820 | 52.5% |
| 1974 | 6,651 | 3,680 | 55.3% |
| 1973 | 9,450 | 5,032 | 53.2% |
| 1972 | 7,900 | 4,299 | 54.4% |
| 1971 | 6,173 | 3,309 | 53.6% |
| 1970 | 4,733 | 2,646 | 55.9% |
Source: Companies House register, nightly cohort rollup. Methodology on the about page. Free to cite with attribution — more at UK company statistics.