Company survival rates
Of the companies incorporated each year, how many are still active — snapshot 2026-10-24.
Of the 1,514,800 UK companies incorporated in 2020, 31.3% 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 31.3% 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 | 473,785 | 31.3% |
| 2019 | 1,344,925 | 431,625 | 32.1% |
| 2018 | 1,302,829 | 381,242 | 29.3% |
| 2017 | 1,233,559 | 341,349 | 27.7% |
| 2016 | 1,197,162 | 306,686 | 25.6% |
| 2015 | 1,027,415 | 283,939 | 27.6% |
| 2014 | 980,088 | 258,463 | 26.4% |
| 2013 | 900,478 | 221,900 | 24.6% |
| 2012 | 825,097 | 193,754 | 23.5% |
| 2011 | 748,290 | 169,570 | 22.7% |
| 2010 | 643,388 | 142,737 | 22.2% |
| 2009 | 533,720 | 117,609 | 22.0% |
| 2008 | 425,896 | 105,481 | 24.8% |
| 2007 | 411,866 | 115,920 | 28.1% |
| 2006 | 322,276 | 104,830 | 32.5% |
| 2005 | 270,972 | 92,358 | 34.1% |
| 2004 | 237,516 | 86,962 | 36.6% |
| 2003 | 291,500 | 110,745 | 38.0% |
| 2002 | 213,388 | 83,905 | 39.3% |
| 2001 | 132,466 | 53,786 | 40.6% |
| 2000 | 124,137 | 51,129 | 41.2% |
| 1999 | 105,741 | 44,915 | 42.5% |
| 1998 | 90,879 | 38,586 | 42.5% |
| 1997 | 80,927 | 35,035 | 43.3% |
| 1996 | 63,279 | 28,415 | 44.9% |
| 1995 | 51,440 | 23,130 | 45.0% |
| 1994 | 43,627 | 20,330 | 46.6% |
| 1993 | 37,025 | 17,950 | 48.5% |
| 1992 | 32,032 | 15,851 | 49.5% |
| 1991 | 29,971 | 15,079 | 50.3% |
| 1990 | 30,120 | 15,239 | 50.6% |
| 1989 | 31,751 | 16,143 | 50.8% |
| 1988 | 31,161 | 16,265 | 52.2% |
| 1987 | 29,730 | 15,597 | 52.5% |
| 1986 | 26,797 | 14,005 | 52.3% |
| 1985 | 21,517 | 11,085 | 51.5% |
| 1984 | 18,913 | 10,023 | 53.0% |
| 1983 | 17,536 | 9,348 | 53.3% |
| 1982 | 16,908 | 9,311 | 55.1% |
| 1981 | 17,566 | 11,392 | 64.9% |
| 1980 | 11,614 | 5,922 | 51.0% |
| 1979 | 10,720 | 5,467 | 51.0% |
| 1978 | 11,055 | 5,812 | 52.6% |
| 1977 | 8,974 | 4,704 | 52.4% |
| 1976 | 8,729 | 4,660 | 53.4% |
| 1975 | 7,270 | 3,824 | 52.6% |
| 1974 | 6,650 | 3,691 | 55.5% |
| 1973 | 9,449 | 5,052 | 53.5% |
| 1972 | 7,896 | 4,305 | 54.5% |
| 1971 | 6,173 | 3,316 | 53.7% |
| 1970 | 4,733 | 2,650 | 56.0% |
Source: Companies House register, nightly cohort rollup. Methodology on the about page. Free to cite with attribution — more at UK company statistics.