What happens to new UK companies? Survival rates for 2016–2025 incorporations
27.4% of UK companies formed in 2016 are still active. Exact Companies House cohort data on how many new companies dissolve, how fast, and in which lines of business.
Of the 665,457 companies incorporated in the UK in 2016, 27.4% are still active on the register today and 71.6% have been dissolved. Newer companies are leaving the register faster: 26.3% of companies formed in 2024 were dissolved by the end of the following year, against 17.6% of the 2016 cohort.
This report follows 7,573,361 companies — every UK incorporation from 2016 to 2025, in 10 annual cohorts — and measures how many were dissolved, and when, using exact Companies House counts. The full dataset is downloadable, with the query behind every figure.
Read this first: dissolved does not mean failed
Dissolution is not the same as business failure. Most companies are dissolved by voluntary strike-off by their own directors — a project finished, a contractor took a permanent job, a holding vehicle was no longer needed — rather than through insolvency. The share of each cohort that is in liquidation today is a small fraction of the share that has been dissolved (see the status table). So the figures below describe how long UK companies stay on the register, which is a different question from how long businesses trade successfully.
Key findings
- 27.4% of companies formed in 2016 are active today, 9 full years on.
- Early dissolution is rising. By the end of the year after incorporation, 17.6% of the 2016 cohort had been dissolved; for the 2024 cohort it was 26.3%. By the end of year two the figure rose from 40.0% (2016) to 48.2% (2023).
- Across the measured cohorts, 16.4% to 26.3% of new companies were dissolved by the end of the following year (excluding 2019; see below).
- By the end of their fifth full year, 61.2% of the 2020 cohort had been dissolved.
- Line of business matters. Of companies formed in 2020, 68.3% of those registered under letting of own or leased property (68209) had not been dissolved five years later, against 26.5% for retail via mail order or internet (47910).
How many new companies are still active?
Older cohorts naturally show lower shares: they have simply had longer in which to dissolve. The comparison that controls for age is the dissolution curve below.
The dissolution curve, cohort by cohort
Each cell is the share of a cohort dissolved by 31 December of the given year after incorporation. Read across a row to see one cohort age; read down a column to compare cohorts at the same age.
| Cohort | Incorporated | Dissolved by end of year 1 | Dissolved by end of year 2 | Dissolved by end of year 3 | Dissolved by end of year 5 | Dissolved by end of year 7 | Dissolved by end of year 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 665,457 | 17.6% | 40.0% | 49.4% | 58.7% | 65.3% | 69.8% |
| 2017 | 634,863 | 16.4% | 37.9% | 45.2% | 55.2% | 61.8% | — |
| 2018 | 666,814 | 17.8% | 34.6% | 44.7% | 54.2% | 60.9% | — |
| 2019 | 687,219 | 9.0% | 34.1% | 41.7% | 51.0% | — | — |
| 2020 | 776,944 | 17.7% | 40.8% | 50.2% | 61.2% | — | — |
| 2021 | 768,798 | 19.0% | 43.1% | 51.6% | — | — | — |
| 2022 | 802,467 | 22.4% | 46.2% | 54.7% | — | — | — |
| 2023 | 896,572 | 23.1% | 48.2% | — | — | — | — |
| 2024 | 844,294 | 26.3% | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2025 | 829,933 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Ages are measured in calendar years, so a cohort mixes companies up to twelve months apart in age. A 'first year' figure covers between 12 and 24 months of life. A dash means the cohort is not yet old enough to measure at that age.
Why 2019 looks different. In 2020, Companies House temporarily paused the process for striking companies off the register in response to the pandemic. Companies formed in 2019 reached the end of their first full year during that pause, so their year-one figure (9.0%) reflects delayed dissolutions, not healthier companies — by year two the cohort is back in line with its neighbours. It is excluded from the headline range.
Where each cohort stands today
| Cohort | Incorporated | Active today | Dissolved | In liquidation | Other status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 665,457 | 27.4% | 71.6% | 0.79% | 1,632 |
| 2017 | 634,863 | 32.3% | 66.5% | 0.92% | 1,986 |
| 2018 | 666,814 | 35.3% | 63.4% | 1.01% | 1,546 |
| 2019 | 687,219 | 40.1% | 58.6% | 1.07% | 1,861 |
| 2020 | 776,944 | 34.0% | 65.2% | 0.59% | 1,709 |
| 2021 | 768,798 | 36.7% | 62.7% | 0.46% | 1,540 |
| 2022 | 802,467 | 38.1% | 60.1% | 0.37% | 11,442 |
| 2023 | 896,572 | 42.1% | 55.2% | 0.29% | 21,596 |
| 2024 | 844,294 | 54.6% | 44.9% | 0.18% | 2,497 |
| 2025 | 829,933 | 84.6% | 15.2% | 0.05% | 1,995 |
A company counted as surviving is not necessarily trading: dormant companies and those in liquidation have not yet been dissolved. "Other status" covers administration, receivership, voluntary arrangements and conversions.
Survival by line of business
| Line of business (SIC) | Incorporated 2020 | Not dissolved after 5 years | See the companies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Letting of own or leased property (68209) | 45,835 | 68.3% | Build the list |
| Buying and selling own real estate (68100) | 33,354 | 62.8% | Build the list |
| Development of building projects (41100) | 15,542 | 51.0% | Build the list |
| Management consultancy (70229) | 36,640 | 47.5% | Build the list |
| Other human health activities (86900) | 13,746 | 43.3% | Build the list |
| Licensed restaurants (56101) | 8,277 | 40.0% | Build the list |
| IT consultancy (62020) | 20,277 | 39.6% | Build the list |
| Other business support services (82990) | 27,349 | 39.1% | Build the list |
| Specialised construction activities (43999) | 9,122 | 37.9% | Build the list |
| Other personal service activities (96090) | 29,798 | 33.5% | Build the list |
| Freight transport by road (49410) | 17,235 | 26.9% | Build the list |
| Retail via mail order or internet (47910) | 44,825 | 26.5% | Build the list |
A company can list up to four SIC codes, so the SIC-code panel counts a company under every code it lists and the rows overlap. The twelve codes were fixed before the data was pulled.
What this means if you sell to new companies
A new company is a time-limited prospect. The curve above says a meaningful share of every cohort is gone within two years — so a list of companies formed eighteen months ago already contains businesses that no longer exist, and a list bought last year is worse.
- Work new companies early. The first months after incorporation are when a company opens a bank account, appoints an accountant, buys insurance and builds a website. They are also the months before attrition thins the list.
- Weight by line of business. Sectors whose companies stay on the register longer are better long-term account prospects; high-churn sectors reward speed and volume over account planning.
- Refresh lists against the register. Checking status before outreach removes dissolved companies — the cheapest deliverability and reputation win available.
The "Build the list" links in the table above open the live register for each line of business, filtered to active companies formed in the last 12 months. Free new-company alerts send new registrations each week.
Methodology
Where the figures come from. Every figure is an exact hit count from the Companies House advanced company search API, taken on 2026-10-08. A cohort is every company incorporated between 1 January and 31 December of one year, in any status today.
How survival is measured. Dissolution counts filter a cohort on company status "dissolved" and on dissolution date. "Dissolved by the end of year N" counts companies dissolved on or before 31 December of the Nth calendar year after the cohort year. A company counts as surviving if it has not been dissolved by that date; this includes companies that are dormant, in liquidation or in administration.
The 2020 strike-off pause. Companies House temporarily paused striking companies off the register in 2020 in response to the pandemic. Dissolution counts for that year are depressed and those for the following year correspondingly raised. Figures are reported as measured; affected comparisons are flagged in the text.
Line of business. The SIC-code panel uses the 2020 cohort and a five-full-year horizon (dissolved by 2025-12-31). The twelve codes were chosen in advance to cover the most common kinds of new company, not selected after looking at the results.
Limitations.
- Dissolution is not the same as business failure. Most companies are dissolved by voluntary strike-off by their own directors — a project finished, a contractor took a permanent job, a holding vehicle was no longer needed — rather than through insolvency.
- Ages are measured in calendar years, so a cohort mixes companies up to twelve months apart in age. A 'first year' figure covers between 12 and 24 months of life.
- A company counted as surviving is not necessarily trading: dormant companies and those in liquidation have not yet been dissolved.
- A company can list up to four SIC codes, so the SIC-code panel counts a company under every code it lists and the rows overlap.
- Counts move slightly over time as companies are restored to the register after dissolution.
Data and licence
- Cohorts covered: companies incorporated 2016-01-01 to 2025-12-31; dissolution curve to 2025-12-31; status as at 2026-10-08.
- Source: Companies House register (advanced company search API).
- Retrieved: 2026-10-08.
- Licence: Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Company data © Crown copyright.
- Download: uk-company-survival-rates-h1-2026.csv — every cohort, every curve point, and the query behind each figure.
Citation. CompaniesIQ Research (2026). What happens to new UK companies? Survival rates for 2016–2025 incorporations. Available at: https://www.companiesiq.co.uk/blog/uk-company-survival-rates-h1-2026
Frequently asked questions
What percentage of new UK companies are still active after ten years?
Of the 665,457 companies incorporated in 2016, 27.4% were active on the Companies House register as at 2026-10-08.
How many new companies are dissolved in their first year?
Between 16.4% and 26.3% of each annual cohort was dissolved by the end of the calendar year after incorporation, and the rate has risen: 26.3% for companies formed in 2024, against 17.6% for 2016.
Does a dissolved company mean the business failed?
No. Most dissolutions are voluntary strike-offs by the company's own directors. Insolvency (liquidation) accounts for a small fraction. Dissolution measures how long a company stays on the register, not whether the business behind it succeeded.
Can I reuse these figures?
Yes. The underlying data is Companies House public data under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Please attribute CompaniesIQ Research and link to this page.
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