Official Statistics

Incorporated companies in the UK January to March 2022

Published 28 April 2022

1. Introduction

This release provides information about the population of companies in the UK. 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.

2. Key points

• At the end of March 2022, there were 4,894,356 companies on the total register and 4,499,342 on the effective register.
• During the first quarter of 2022, the total register increased by 56,448 companies (1.2%), and the effective register increased by 46,432 companies (1.0%).
• Between January and March 2022, there were 205,171 new incorporations and 150,810 dissolutions in the UK.
• The number of incorporations in the first quarter of 2022 decreased by 6,197 (2.9%) compared with the same quarter of 2021 but increased by 35,349 (20.8%) compared with the same quarter of 2020.
• The number of dissolutions in the first quarter of 2022 decreased by 20,359 (11.9%) compared with the first quarter of 2021 but increased by 13,832 (10.1%) compared with the same quarter of 2020. Given the disruption to the strike off process, as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak and national lockdown measures, it’s difficult to make like for like comparisons to previous years. Refer to the key events for more details.
• The number of companies in the course of removal in the first quarter of 2022 increased by 83,052 (39.4%) compared with the same period last year, and by 99,735 (51.4%) compared with the same quarter of 2020. Compared with the fourth quarter of 2021, the number of companies in the course of removal increased by 8,008 (2.8%). Given the disruption to the strike off process, as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak and national lockdown measures, it’s difficult to make like for like comparisons to previous years. Refer to the key events for more details.

3. Key events

• In response to the 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 COVID-19 outbreak and national lockdown measures 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 companies that applied to be struck off before July 2020, including some companies that filed for dissolution before the first UK wide COVID-19 lockdown began in March 2020. The release of paused compulsory dissolutions began on 10 October 2020.

• In response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, there was a second pause of the voluntary and compulsory strike off processes on 21 January 2021. Companies House temporarily paused the strike off processes so that companies and creditors would not be adversely affected by processing delays. The strike off process resumed via a phased release on 8th March 2021.

• As part of the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act, companies were granted automatic extensions to their filing deadlines, which may have affected the volume of dissolutions in 2020 and 2021.

• Once a company starts the dissolution process (voluntary or compulsory), there is an opportunity for others to object to the dissolution and strike off. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the government operated several loan schemes to support companies. The government acts as a Guarantor for these loans, and objects to strike-off proceedings if there is an outstanding Bounce Back Loan, Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan, Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan, or Recovery Loan in place. The objection is only removed once the lender confirms that there is no longer an outstanding loan in place. This has been a contributing factor to an increase in the number of companies in the process of removal since the first quarter of 2021.

4. Incorporated companies

At the end of March 2022, there were 4,894,356 companies on the total register – which includes those in the course of removal and liquidation (395,014).

Compared with the end of December 2021, the size of the total register increased by 56,448 companies (1.2%) by the end of March 2022. Growth was observed in all constituent countries; England and Wales (1.2%), Scotland (1.0%) and Northern Ireland (1.6%).

By the end of March 2022, the size of the total register increased by 178,230 companies (3.8%) compared with the end of March 2021.

At the end of March 2022, the number of companies on the effective register – which excludes those in the course of removal or liquidation – was 4,499,342.

Compared with the end of December 2021, the size of the effective register increased by 46,432 companies (1.0%). Growth was observed in all constituent countries in line with the long-term trend: England and Wales (1.0%), Scotland (1.1%) and Northern Ireland (2.2%).

By the end of March 2022, the effective register increased by 89,106 companies (2.0%) compared with the end of March 2021.

The size of both the total and effective registers increased at a consistent rate from the first quarter of 2012 to the second quarter of 2020. However, between the second quarter of 2020 and the second quarter of 2021 the rate of growth of the total register size significantly increased: the rate of growth of incorporations increased during this period, along with a decrease in the number of dissolutions. Growth in the total and effective register sizes in the first quarter of 2022 (1.2% and 1.0% respectively) was similar to that of the first quarter of 2020 (0.8% and 1.0% respectively), prior to the start of the pandemic.

Chart 1: UK total and effective register sizes, 2012 quarter 1 to 2022 quarter 1

Source: Incorporated companies in the UK, January to March 2022, Companies House

Between January and March 2022, there were 205,171 incorporations and 150,810 dissolutions in the UK.

The number of incorporations during the first quarter of 2022 decreased by 6,197 (2.9%) compared with the same quarter of 2021 but increased by 35,349 (20.8%) compared with the same quarter of 2020.

The number of incorporations has continued to increase over time. For instance, there were 76,969 more incorporations in the first quarter of 2022 compared with the first quarter of 2012: this represents an average annual growth rate of 4.8% over the 10 years.

The number of dissolutions during the first quarter of 2022 decreased by 20,359 (11.9%) compared with the same quarter of 2021 but increased by 13,832 (10.1%) compared with the same quarter in 2020.

The number of dissolutions has generally increased over time, with the exception of the pause to strike off that was a result of the COVID-19 outbreak and national lockdown measures. There were 79,542 more dissolutions in the first quarter of 2022 than in the first quarter of 2012, which represents an average annual growth rate of 7.8% over the 10 years. However, it’s difficult to make comparisons due to the disruptions to the strike off process which are affecting seasonal trends.

At the end of March 2022, the number of companies in the course of removal increased by 83,052 (39.4%) compared with the same period last year, and by 99,735 (51.4%) compared with the same quarter of 2020. Compared with the fourth quarter of 2021, the number of companies in the course of removal increased by 8,008 (2.8%). Given the disruption to the strike off process, as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak and national lockdown measures, it’s difficult to make like for like comparisons to previous years. Refer to the key events for more details.

Chart 2: UK total incorporations and dissolutions, 2012 quarter 1 to 2022 quarter 1

Source: Incorporated companies in the UK, January to March 2022, 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.

5. 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

6. 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 is 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 UK, 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 2021 to 2022 will be published on 30 June 2022.

Statistics for the period 1 April to 30 June 2022 will be published on 28 July 2022.

The publication dates have been announced on the GOV.UK release calendar.