Company survival rates
Of the companies incorporated each year, how many are still active — snapshot 2026-09-19.
Of the 1,514,798 UK companies incorporated in 2020, 31.8% 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 31.8% 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 | 1,514,798 | 481,665 | 31.8% |
| 2019 | 1,344,922 | 437,675 | 32.5% |
| 2018 | 1,302,831 | 386,025 | 29.6% |
| 2017 | 1,233,358 | 345,091 | 28.0% |
| 2016 | 1,197,170 | 309,864 | 25.9% |
| 2015 | 1,027,422 | 286,674 | 27.9% |
| 2014 | 980,092 | 261,148 | 26.6% |
| 2013 | 900,478 | 224,036 | 24.9% |
| 2012 | 825,107 | 195,414 | 23.7% |
| 2011 | 748,297 | 171,079 | 22.9% |
| 2010 | 643,399 | 144,015 | 22.4% |
| 2009 | 533,716 | 118,566 | 22.2% |
| 2008 | 425,899 | 106,310 | 25.0% |
| 2007 | 411,868 | 116,886 | 28.4% |
| 2006 | 322,280 | 105,705 | 32.8% |
| 2005 | 270,963 | 92,948 | 34.3% |
| 2004 | 237,515 | 87,531 | 36.9% |
| 2003 | 291,497 | 111,569 | 38.3% |
| 2002 | 213,387 | 84,462 | 39.6% |
| 2001 | 132,463 | 54,166 | 40.9% |
| 2000 | 124,138 | 51,498 | 41.5% |
| 1999 | 105,739 | 45,227 | 42.8% |
| 1998 | 90,881 | 38,841 | 42.7% |
| 1997 | 80,930 | 35,258 | 43.6% |
| 1996 | 63,280 | 28,607 | 45.2% |
| 1995 | 51,442 | 23,266 | 45.2% |
| 1994 | 43,634 | 20,460 | 46.9% |
| 1993 | 37,020 | 18,040 | 48.7% |
| 1992 | 32,032 | 15,933 | 49.7% |
| 1991 | 29,976 | 15,160 | 50.6% |
| 1990 | 30,121 | 15,297 | 50.8% |
| 1989 | 31,756 | 16,253 | 51.2% |
| 1988 | 31,161 | 16,339 | 52.4% |
| 1987 | 29,731 | 15,688 | 52.8% |
| 1986 | 26,795 | 14,071 | 52.5% |
| 1985 | 21,517 | 11,133 | 51.7% |
| 1984 | 18,915 | 10,067 | 53.2% |
| 1983 | 17,529 | 9,359 | 53.4% |
| 1982 | 16,910 | 9,328 | 55.2% |
| 1981 | 17,571 | 11,419 | 65.0% |
| 1980 | 11,616 | 5,944 | 51.2% |
| 1979 | 10,719 | 5,487 | 51.2% |
| 1978 | 11,055 | 5,836 | 52.8% |
| 1977 | 8,973 | 4,732 | 52.7% |
| 1976 | 8,728 | 4,671 | 53.5% |
| 1975 | 7,266 | 3,847 | 52.9% |
| 1974 | 6,650 | 3,707 | 55.7% |
| 1973 | 9,444 | 5,062 | 53.6% |
| 1972 | 7,895 | 4,329 | 54.8% |
| 1971 | 6,172 | 3,330 | 54.0% |
| 1970 | 4,734 | 2,660 | 56.2% |
Source: Companies House register, nightly cohort rollup. Methodology on the about page. Free to cite with attribution — more at UK company statistics.