Official Statistics

Incorporated companies in the UK January to March 2021 (revised)

Updated 24 June 2021

Revision notice

We have corrected an error in the datasets for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland for the “Insolvencies and Liquidations” tabs (“d” Tables). In these tables only a discrepancy occurred in the 2020 quarters 2 and 3 statistics due to a processing error.

The calendar year totals for 2020 across all tables in the 2021 quarter 1 publication were missing. We have corrected this omission.

We have corrected an error in the datasets for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland for the “In the course of removal” and “Effective numbers on register at end of period” in the “Company Register Activity” tabs (“a”, “b” and “c” Tables). In these tables only a discrepancy occurred in the 2021 quarter 1 statistics due to a processing error.

The values have now been calculated and the release and all data have been updated on 24 June 2021. We apologise for any inconvenience.

Contact us if you want to see the original release.

Introduction

This release provides information about the population of companies in the United Kingdom. A company is defined as a specific legal form of business formed under the Companies Act 2006. Companies are registered at Companies House regardless of whether they go on to trade actively. Further information on companies and the Companies Act 2006 is provided in the document Definitions to accompany statistical releases.

The statistics in this release include the total number of registered companies, the number of newly incorporated companies and the number of companies that were dissolved. The release focusses on the headline messages for the UK. Figures for the constituent countries are contained in the supplementary tables that accompany this release. The supplementary tables also contain separate figures for public companies and limited liability partnerships.

Key points

• At the end of March 2021, there were 4,716,126 companies on the total register and 4,410,236^{[footnote 1]} on the effective register.
• The total register has increased by 41,454 companies (0.9%) in the last quarter, whereas the effective register growth remains higher than pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) levels, increasing by 89,374^{[footnote 1]} companies (2.1%)^{[footnote 1]} during the first quarter of 2021.
• Between January and March 2021, there were 211,368 new incorporations and 171,169 dissolutions in the UK.
• The number of incorporations in the first quarter of 2021 increased by 41,546 (24.5%) compared with the same quarter of the previous year. This is the largest quarter one year on year increase since 2012, when quarterly breakdowns were first recorded.
• The number of dissolutions in the first quarter of 2021 increased by 34,191 (25.0%) compared with the first quarter of 2020. The number of companies in the course of removal increased by 16,683 (8.6%)^{[footnote 1]} compared with the same period last year. It is difficult to make comparisons to pre-COVID-19 levels due to the disruptions to the strike off process which has affected seasonal trends.

Key events

• In response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and national lockdown measures introduced in March 2020, a set of easements were announced by Companies House on 16 April 2020. They included the temporary pause of the strike off process (voluntary and compulsory) to give businesses affected by the coronavirus outbreak the time they needed to update their records filed with Companies House and help them avoid being struck off the register. The impact of this announcement was that compulsory dissolutions from 2 April 2020 onwards were temporarily paused, as was the final stage of voluntary dissolutions.

• On 10 September 2020 the voluntary strike off process resumed via a phased release through the remainder of September and into October. This removed all companies that applied to be struck off before July 2020 and included some companies that filed for dissolution before the first UK wide coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown began in March 2020. The release of paused compulsory dissolutions began on 10 October 2020.

• In response to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, there was a second pause of the voluntary and compulsory strike off processes between 21 January and 8 March 2021. Companies House temporarily paused the strike off processes so that companies and creditors would not be adversely affected by processing delays.

Incorporated companies

At the end of March 2021, there were 4,716,126 companies on the total register – which includes those in the course of dissolution and liquidation (305,890^{[footnote 1]}).

Compared with the end of December 2020, the size of the total register increased by 41,454 companies (0.9%). Growth was observed in all constituent countries; England and Wales (0.8%), Scotland (1.8%) and Northern Ireland (2.6%).

The size of the total register increased by 365,213 companies (8.4%) in the first quarter of 2021 compared with the first quarter of 2020. This represents the largest year on year quarterly increase since 2012, when quarterly breakdowns were first recorded.

At the end of March 2021, the number of companies on the effective register – which excludes those in the course of dissolution or liquidation – was 4,410,236^{[footnote 1]}. Compared with the end of December 2020, this was an increase of 89,374^{[footnote 1]} companies (2.1%)^{[footnote 1]} and growth was observed in all constituent countries.

The effective register increased in the first quarter of 2021 compared with the same quarter of 2020, rising by 346,173 (8.5%)^{[footnote 1]}.

Both the total and effective registers have consistently increased since 2012.

Chart 1: UK total and effective register sizes, 2012 quarter 1 to 2021 quarter 1

Source: Incorporated Companies in the UK, January to March 2021, Companies House

Between January and March 2021, there were 211,368 incorporations and 171,169 dissolutions in the UK.

The number of incorporations during the first quarter of 2021 increased by 41,546 (24.5%) compared with the same quarter of 2020. This is the largest quarter one year on year increase since 2012. All months in quarter one 2021 showed increases over the same months in the previous year.

The number of incorporations has continued to increase gradually over time. There were 83,166 more incorporations in the first quarter of 2021 than in the first quarter of 2012, representing an increase of nearly 65%.

Companies House working through the backlog of strike off activity caused by the pausing of this activity on 2 occasions contributed to the number of dissolutions during the first quarter of 2021 increasing by 34,191 (25.0%) compared with the same quarter of 2020. However, over the four quarters from quarter 2 2020 to quarter 1 2021, there have been 449,881 companies dissolved from the register. This has decreased by 74,387 (14.2%) compared with the four quarters from quarter 2 2019 to quarter 1 2020. The easements temporarily paused the strike-off process and since restarting, companies have been removed from the register through a phased release from September 2020.

The number of dissolutions has continued to increase gradually over time. Although there were 99,901 more dissolutions in the first quarter of 2021 than in the first quarter of 2012, an increase of over 140%, it is difficult to make comparisons due to the disruptions to the strike off process which are affecting seasonal trends.

The number of companies in the course of removal increased by 16,683 (8.6%)^{[footnote 1]} compared with the same period last year.

Chart 2: UK total incorporations and dissolutions, 2012 quarter 1 to 2021 quarter 1

Source: Incorporated Companies in the UK, January to March 2021, Companies House

A full breakdown of figures for England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the UK as a whole is provided in the Excel workbook that accompanies this release. Figures are provided on both a quarterly and annual basis from 2011.

Other statistics in this release

In addition to the tables covering register activity for all companies, a range of other statistics are included in the tables that accompany this release. These tables provide information at the individual country level and for the UK as a whole. The tables cover the following:

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

Background notes

This section provides a range of information designed to provide the user with more information about the statistics.

Definitions

A separate document Definitions to accompany statistical releases is available, providing definitions for the main terms used in Companies House official statistics publications.

Quality

Information relating to the quality of the statistics is provided in a separate quality document. This document provides information on the quality of Companies House’s official statistics, to enable users to judge whether the data are of sufficient quality for their intended use. The information is structured in terms of the quality dimensions of the European Statistical System. The document also provides information on how these statistics relate to selected other business statistics.

Coverage

This release provides information on the size of the company population and the changes that have occurred within the quarter. The release includes statistics for the United Kingdom, England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. The statistics cover companies, which are specific legal forms of businesses that are registered at Companies House. They do not include information on sole proprietorship businesses, partnerships, or charities.

Use and users

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

Consultation

Results of the most recent consultation on these official statistics are published.

Revisions to these statistics

Revisions to these statistics will be mainly due to changes in methodologies and source data. The statistics are derived from administrative data, and changes to the underlying methods will cause revisions. These include changes in statistical methods, definitions, classifications, and geographic coverage.

Although Companies House has robust procedures in place to minimise errors in the methods used to create these statistics, errors may occasionally occur. If errors are found after the publication, their impact will be assessed. If the changes are significant, a correction will be issued as soon as possible. Minor corrections will be included in the next planned release.

Any misleading or incorrect figures will be amended and a footnote added to indicate that the figures have been corrected. The nature and reason for the correction will be explained.

Date of next release

Annual statistics for the financial year of 2020/21 will be published on 24 June 2021.

Statistics for the period 1 April to 30 June 2021 will be published on 29 July 2021.

The publication dates have been announced on the gov.uk release calendar.

1. We have corrected an error in the datasets for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland for the “In the course of removal” and “Effective numbers on register at end of period” in the “Company Register Activity” tabs (“a”, “b” and “c” Tables). In these tables only a discrepancy occurred in the 2021 quarter 1 statistics due to a processing error. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰