UK Company Incorporation Statistics 2026: Monthly Breakdown

This is our live reference page for UK company incorporation statistics in 2026. We update this page monthly with the latest data from Companies House, providing a comprehensive view of business formation across the United Kingdom.

At NewCo Data, we process every single incorporation from Companies House daily, giving us a unique real-time view of the UK's business formation landscape. All figures on this page come from our analysis of official Companies House data.

Last updated: 20 February 2026. This page is updated monthly as new data becomes available.

2026 monthly incorporation figures

Here's how 2026 is tracking month by month, with year-on-year comparisons against 2025:

For deeper analysis of individual months, read our detailed reports:

• January 2026 Incorporation Report — 52,000+ companies, strong Q1 start
• February 2026 Incorporation Report — 46,800 companies, on track with seasonal norms

Q1 2026 trajectory

With January and February data complete, we can project Q1 2026:

• Jan + Feb total: ~98,800 incorporations
• Projected Q1 total: ~150,000-155,000 (assuming March follows seasonal patterns)
• Annualised rate: ~610,000-620,000 for full-year 2026

This would represent a modest increase over 2025's estimated total of ~595,000 incorporations and continuation of the post-pandemic growth trend. For historical context, the UK saw approximately 500,000 incorporations per year in 2015-2019, before the pandemic-era surge. Read our 2025 trends analysis for more background.

Top sectors for new incorporations (2026 YTD)

Based on SIC code analysis of all 2026 incorporations to date:

Retail continues to dominate new incorporations, driven by e-commerce businesses. Real estate holds second place, largely due to property investment vehicles and buy-to-let companies. Food and drink remains strong in third, reflecting the continued growth of delivery-based food businesses and restaurant openings.

Notable trends versus 2025:

• IT & Software has grown from 3.8% to 4.1% of total incorporations — the AI and tech startup wave continues
• Construction (both specialist and general) combined accounts for 8.0% — reflecting strong infrastructure and housing development activity
• Financial Services remains stable at 4.1%, though the composition is shifting towards fintech and payment services

Regional breakdown

Company formations are not evenly distributed across the UK. Based on registered address postcodes for 2026 YTD:

London accounts for over a quarter of all UK incorporations, but this figure is somewhat inflated by the use of London-based virtual office and registered address services. The true operational distribution is somewhat more even, though London remains the clear leader.

The North West and West Midlands continue to show strong formation activity, driven by Manchester and Birmingham respectively.

Company type breakdown

The overwhelming majority of new incorporations are private limited companies:

This distribution has been remarkably stable over the past five years, with Ltd companies consistently accounting for 95-97% of all formations.

Historical context: 2020-2026

To understand where 2026 sits in the broader trend, here's the estimated annual incorporation volume for recent years:

The UK incorporation rate has remained remarkably resilient despite economic headwinds, interest rate rises, and geopolitical uncertainty. This reflects the underlying entrepreneurial dynamism of the UK economy and the continued attractiveness of limited company formation as a business structure.

What this means for B2B service providers

For businesses that serve other businesses — accountants, insurance brokers, web agencies, banks, telecoms providers — these statistics represent opportunity:

• ~2,500 new potential clients every working day
• ~50,000 per month across all sectors
• Predictable, recurring volume that supports systematic outreach
• Sector concentration in retail, real estate, and F&D means targeted approaches work well

Every newly incorporated company needs essential services in their first 30 days. The businesses that reach them first win the most clients. Learn how to find newly incorporated companies or jump straight to the data.

Methodology

All statistics on this page are derived from Companies House incorporation data processed by NewCo Data. We pull the daily incorporation feed, classify each company by SIC code into 40+ sector categories, and aggregate the results. Figures may differ slightly from Companies House's own published statistics due to timing of data publication, treatment of same-day dissolutions, and classification methodology.

For questions about our data or methodology, contact us at hello@newcodata.co.uk.