Official Statistics

Incorporated companies in the UK April to June 2024

Published 25 July 2024

1. Other statistics in this release

The tables that accompany this release include:

• register activity for all companies
• register activity for public companies
• register activity for limited liability partnerships (LLPs)
• company insolvencies and liquidations
• company removals from the register

The statistics in this release are presented by financial year, which runs from 1 April to 31 March. The year is broken down so that:

• April to June is quarter 1
• July to September is quarter 2
• October to December is quarter 3
• January to March is quarter 4

2. Main points

The main things to note in this statistical release are that:

• the total register size at the end of June 2024 was 5,399,912, an increase of 49,153 companies (0.9%) compared with the end of March 2024
• there were 4,896,842 companies on the effective register at the end of June 2024, an increase of 20,468 companies (0.4%) compared with the end of March 2024
• between April and June 2024, there were 217,815 incorporations in the UK, an increase of 5,543 (2.6%) compared with the same period in 2023
• there were 162,485 dissolutions in the UK between April and June 2024, a decrease of 15,599 (8.8%) compared with the same period in 2023

3. Changes in the companies register

The total register size was 5,399,912 at the end of June 2024. This number includes companies in the process of dissolution and liquidation (503,070). This is an increase of 49,153 companies (0.9%) compared with the end of March 2024.

The effective register size, which does not include companies in the process of dissolution or liquidation, was 4,896,842 at the end of June 2024. This is an increase of 20,468 companies (0.4%) compared with the end of March 2024.

The total register size across all constituent countries of the UK from April to June 2024, compared with January to March 2024, increased by:

• 44,288 (0.9%) companies in England and Wales
• 2,036 (0.8%) companies in Scotland
• 2,829 (3.2%) companies in Northern Ireland

We usually expect growth in the Northern Ireland register to be consistent with the other constituent countries of the UK, at approximately 1%. The growth in the register size in the period April to June 2024 is primarily due to an increase in the number of incorporations in Northern Ireland.

Figure 3.1: The total and effective register sizes increased by 0.9% and 0.4%, respectively, during the period April to June 2024

The total and effective register size, UK companies register, quarter 1 financial year ending (FYE) 2015 to quarter 1 FYE 2025

Source: Incorporated companies in the UK, April to June 2024, Companies House

There were 217,815 incorporations in the UK during April to June 2024. This is an increase of 5,543 (2.6%) compared with the same period in 2023. The increase in incorporations across constituent countries in the UK from April to June 2024 compared with April to June 2023 was:

• 3,445 (1.7%) in England and Wales
• 131 (1.3%) in Scotland
• 1,967 (69.5%) in Northern Ireland

We usually expect an increase in the number of incorporations to be consistent across all constituent countries of the UK. During April to June 2024, there was a large increase in the number of incorporations in Northern Ireland.

There were 162,485 dissolutions in the UK between April and June 2024. This is a decrease of 15,599 (8.8%) compared with the same period in 2023.

The average number of incorporations and dissolutions during a quarter has increased over time. In the period April to June 2024, there were:

• 69,422 more incorporations compared with April to June 2014
• 69,970 more dissolutions compared with April to June 2014

Figure 3.2: Incorporations increased by 2.6% while dissolutions decreased by 8.8% compared with the same period last year

Incorporations and dissolutions, UK companies register, quarter 1 FYE 2015 to quarter 1 FYE 2025

Source: Incorporated companies in the UK, April to June 2024, Companies House

The number of companies in the course of dissolution at the end of June 2024 was 391,842. This is an increase of 26,809 (7.3%) compared with the end of March 2024.

There is a full breakdown of company statistics for the UK, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland in tables 1a, 2a, 3a and 4a respectively of the spreadsheet Incorporated companies in the UK April to June 2024. The tables contain figures from April 2012 onwards. There are separate figures for:

• public limited companies in tables 1b, 2b, 3b and 4b
• limited liability partnerships in tables 1c, 2c, 3c and 4c
• company insolvencies and liquidations in tables 1d, 2d, 3d and 4d
• company removals from the register in tables 1e, 2e, 3e and 4e

4. About the data

The figures in this release give information about the population of companies in the UK.

Companies are legal types of business registered at Companies House.

Companies are a group of corporate bodies formed under the Companies Act 2006.

Companies and corporate bodies are registered at Companies House regardless of whether they go on to actively trade.

For more information on companies covered by the Companies Act 2006 and corporate bodies, see Definitions to accompany statistical releases from Companies House. This document also explains the incorporation, dissolution and restoration processes.

The statistics in this release include:

• the total number of registered companies
• the number of companies incorporated
• the number of companies dissolved

This statistics release focuses on the headline messages for the UK.

There are figures for the constituent countries in the Incorporated companies in the UK April to June 2024 spreadsheet. These documents also include figures for:

• public limited companies (PLCs)
• limited liability partnerships (LLPs)

5. Glossary

Find definitions for the main terms used in Companies House official statistics publications.

6. Strengths and limitations

Companies House statistics are used extensively by government, the public, public bodies and businesses. For example, they are used by:

• government in understanding the likely impact of policy changes and monitoring the impact of economic changes on companies
• businesses in understanding their market share and planning marketing strategies
• banks in developing an understanding of their customer base
• foreign firms in making UK location decisions
• academics to inform research into businesses at local and national level
• a range of public bodies in decision-making and evaluating business-related policies

Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should follow.

You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards.

Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.

6.1 Quality

Read our document Quality information to accompany statistical releases from Companies House. It can help you decide if the data is good enough to use.

This document measures the Companies House official statistics against characteristics called data quality dimensions. Companies House uses the European Statistical System’s data quality dimensions. 

The document also gives information on how Companies House official statistics relate to other business statistics.

6.2 Corrections and revisions to these statistics

We aim to minimise corrections and revisions to our statistical publications but sometimes changes are unavoidable. These changes could be:

• corrections, which are unplanned and occur when errors in either the data or the methodology are found after release of the publication
• revisions, which are generally, but not always, planned, and are the result of improvements in methods or of additional data

More information about potential changes to the published data.

The source of these statistics is administrative data. This means the data are often used for operational purposes. Statistical use is not their main purpose. As the main purpose of collecting the data is operational, it is common that some of the values we report on change.

6.3 Consultation

We publish results of the most recent consultation on these official statistics on GOV.UK.

7. Future releases

Companies House will publish annual statistics for FYE 2025 on 26 June 2025.

We’ll publish statistics for the period 1 July to 30 September 2024 on 31 October 2024.

We’ve announced the publication dates on the GOV.UK release calendar.

If you have a question about any of these tables or Companies House statistics in general, email statistics@companieshouse.gov.uk.

8. Related links

Companies House statistics newer than 2014
Annual and quarterly statistics produced by Companies House from June 2014.

Companies House statistics older than 2014
Annual and quarterly statistics produced by Companies House before October 2014, on the National Archives website.

Open data products at Companies House
Information about the open data products that Companies House offers. We update this page regularly.

Find and update company information
Our service to find and update company information, which includes advanced search capabilities.

Companies House API overview
Free, fully documented API, which gives access to real-time updates on companies. We update this information regularly. 

API support
A developer forum giving API support, which is updated regularly.