How many limited companies are there in the UK?

The limited company is the most popular business structure in the UK after sole trader status. Here, we examine the number on the official register and how the number of incorporated businesses has increased substantially over the past twenty years.

Where can you find the official statistics?

There are two useful sets of official figures.

The Government’s Business Population Estimates 2025 provide estimates of the number of economically active businesses in the UK.

Companies House also publishes statistics showing the actual number of incorporated companies on its register.

How many companies are there in the UK?

At the end of June 2026, there were exactly 5,516,377 companies on the Companies House register, according to the registrar’s latest quarterly statistics.

This figure is significantly higher than the number of companies counted as actively trading in the Government’s Business Population Estimates.

It is important to distinguish between companies on the register and actively trading companies.

The Companies House register includes dormant companies and companies that may be in the process of being dissolved. Business Population Estimates instead focus on economically active businesses.

At the start of 2025:

• There were approximately 5.7 million private sector businesses in the UK, an increase of around 191,000 (3.5%) compared with the start of 2024.
• There were an estimated 3.2 million sole proprietorships, 2.1 million actively trading companies and approximately 368,000 ordinary partnerships.
• Approximately 4.3 million businesses did not employ anyone other than their owners.
• The private sector business population has increased by roughly 1.2 million (26.9%) since 2010.

Business population growth over time

Year	Total private sector businesses	Actively trading companies
2010	Approx. 4.5 million	Approx. 1.6 million
2015	Approx. 5.4 million	Approx. 1.9 million
2020	Approx. 6.0 million (peak)	Approx. 2.1 million
2025	Approx. 5.7 million	Approx. 2.1 million

The number of private sector businesses reached a peak of just under 6 million at the start of 2020, before falling back during the following years.

Why have the numbers increased so much?

There are many reasons why the general business population has grown so fast – and entrepreneurship is unlikely to be the only reason.

Much of the growth since the late 2000s reflects changes in the labour market, including the tax treatment of self-employment and limited company working, as well as wider shifts away from traditional employment.

There can be tax advantages to incorporating, although whether a limited company is more tax-efficient depends on the circumstances of the business and its owners.

The Corporation Tax main rate increased from 19% to 25% in April 2023. However, the 19% small profits rate continues to apply to companies with profits of £50,000 or less, with marginal relief applying between the £50,000 and £250,000 thresholds. These thresholds can be reduced where there are associated companies.

The remainder of the growth in self-employment is likely to be accounted for in part by individuals working in more ‘precarious’ sectors of the economy, including parts of the gig economy, where self-employment is not always a choice driven by aspiration.

Official figures show that growth in the business population since 2010 has mainly been driven by non-employing businesses.

Changes to the taxation of buy-to-let landlords have also contributed to increased interest in property-related limited companies.

Businesses in the UK – some interesting facts

• Approximately 75% of UK private sector businesses do not employ anyone apart from their owners.
• London had approximately 1.042 million businesses at the start of 2025, followed by the South East with around 877,000.
• Together, London and the South East accounted for around 34% of the UK private sector business population.
• Construction was the largest sector by number of businesses in 2025, accounting for around 15.8% of the total, followed by professional, scientific and technical activities at around 13.7%.