Company survival rates
Of the companies incorporated each year, how many are still active — snapshot 2026-09-12.
Of the 1,514,795 UK companies incorporated in 2020, 31.9% 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 31.9% of companies are still active — yet the following 15 years cost just another -2.5 points: a company that reaches age 6 has a 108% 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 | 1,514,795 | 483,506 | 31.9% |
| 2019 | 1,344,923 | 439,277 | 32.7% |
| 2018 | 1,302,837 | 387,302 | 29.7% |
| 2017 | 1,233,365 | 346,108 | 28.1% |
| 2016 | 1,197,172 | 310,812 | 26.0% |
| 2015 | 1,027,423 | 287,460 | 28.0% |
| 2014 | 980,091 | 261,843 | 26.7% |
| 2013 | 900,488 | 224,551 | 24.9% |
| 2012 | 825,105 | 195,817 | 23.7% |
| 2011 | 748,297 | 171,409 | 22.9% |
| 2010 | 643,405 | 144,246 | 22.4% |
| 2009 | 533,716 | 118,790 | 22.3% |
| 2008 | 425,902 | 106,507 | 25.0% |
| 2007 | 411,866 | 117,125 | 28.4% |
| 2006 | 322,280 | 105,926 | 32.9% |
| 2005 | 270,965 | 93,093 | 34.4% |
| 2004 | 237,513 | 87,640 | 36.9% |
| 2003 | 291,499 | 111,762 | 38.3% |
| 2002 | 213,387 | 84,552 | 39.6% |
| 2001 | 132,462 | 54,243 | 40.9% |
| 2000 | 124,139 | 51,567 | 41.5% |
| 1999 | 105,738 | 45,272 | 42.8% |
| 1998 | 90,884 | 38,900 | 42.8% |
| 1997 | 80,926 | 35,288 | 43.6% |
| 1996 | 63,281 | 28,634 | 45.2% |
| 1995 | 51,441 | 23,295 | 45.3% |
| 1994 | 43,631 | 20,473 | 46.9% |
| 1993 | 37,019 | 18,060 | 48.8% |
| 1992 | 32,031 | 15,946 | 49.8% |
| 1991 | 29,975 | 15,169 | 50.6% |
| 1990 | 30,119 | 15,309 | 50.8% |
| 1989 | 31,757 | 16,266 | 51.2% |
| 1988 | 31,162 | 16,345 | 52.5% |
| 1987 | 29,731 | 15,718 | 52.9% |
| 1986 | 26,795 | 14,074 | 52.5% |
| 1985 | 21,516 | 11,137 | 51.8% |
| 1984 | 18,916 | 10,075 | 53.3% |
| 1983 | 17,530 | 9,371 | 53.5% |
| 1982 | 16,909 | 9,343 | 55.3% |
| 1981 | 17,571 | 11,424 | 65.0% |
| 1980 | 11,615 | 5,952 | 51.2% |
| 1979 | 10,719 | 5,492 | 51.2% |
| 1978 | 11,055 | 5,836 | 52.8% |
| 1977 | 8,972 | 4,739 | 52.8% |
| 1976 | 8,727 | 4,674 | 53.6% |
| 1975 | 7,265 | 3,852 | 53.0% |
| 1974 | 6,649 | 3,708 | 55.8% |
| 1973 | 9,444 | 5,060 | 53.6% |
| 1972 | 7,895 | 4,331 | 54.9% |
| 1971 | 6,171 | 3,327 | 53.9% |
| 1970 | 4,734 | 2,661 | 56.2% |
Source: Companies House register, nightly cohort rollup. Methodology on the about page. Free to cite with attribution — more at UK company statistics.