UK Construction Survival Index
43.3% of construction companies founded in 2019 were still active five years later
How long UK construction businesses actually last, tracked cohort by cohort from ONS Business Demography data, and compared against the all-industries UK average.
Key findings
- Of the 48,570 construction enterprises born in 2019, 43.3% were still active five years later, against a 38.4% average across all UK industries.
- Construction's survival advantage widens the longer a business has been trading: at year 2 the gap over the all-industries average is under 1 percentage point in most cohorts, but by year 5 it has grown to roughly +4.9pp.
- This holds despite construction being consistently the sector with the largest number of company insolvencies in the UK (see our UK Construction Insolvency Index): the two measures track different things, a formal insolvency event among registered companies versus the share of a whole year's new-business cohort still trading at all.
- 93.5% of the 2023 cohort survived their first year, in line with the 93.4% all-industries figure. The first year is where construction and the wider economy are most alike; the gap opens up from year 2 onwards.
Source: Office for National Statistics, Business Demography (Table 4.2), under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Figures may be cited with attribution to Trade Tax Specialists.
The survival curve: 2019 birth cohort
Of every 100 construction enterprises that started trading in 2019, the chart tracks how many were still active at each anniversary, against the same measure for all UK industries combined.
Survival by birth-year cohort
Each row is a different birth-year cohort, tracked independently. More recent cohorts have fewer years of data available; blank cells mean that survival year has not yet elapsed and ONS has not yet published it.
| Birth year | Births | 1yr | 2yr | 3yr | 4yr | 5yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 48,570 | 93.7% | 75.6% | 60.0% | 50.1% | 43.3% |
| 2020 | 42,490 | 93.7% | 74.2% | 58.2% | 49.5% | n/a |
| 2021 | 52,975 | 94.3% | 73.3% | 57.7% | n/a | n/a |
| 2022 | 49,390 | 93.5% | 69.0% | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 2023 | 47,115 | 93.5% | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
Row-by-row figures are for Construction only. The all-industries comparison figures are in the CSV download below.
1-year survival rate over time
The one figure available for every cohort in the series is 1-year survival. It has stayed in a narrow band, between 93 and 95%, across all five birth-year cohorts published so far, showing no clear deterioration even through the post-pandemic and cost-inflation period.
Methodology and sources
Data source. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) Business Demography release tracks "enterprises", businesses registered for VAT or PAYE, from the year they are first active ("born"). Each birth-year cohort is followed for up to five years, and Table 4.2 reports the count and percentage still active at each anniversary, broken down by broad industry group. Construction aligns to SIC 2007 Section F.
Enterprise, not company. This is a different unit and a different source to our UK Construction Index and UK Construction Insolvency Index, which both track Companies House limited companies specifically. The ONS enterprise measure is broader: it includes sole traders and partnerships registered for VAT or PAYE as well as limited companies. The two datasets are not directly comparable and should not be combined into a single figure.
Caveats. Figures are control-rounded to the base 5 by ONS. "Survival" means the enterprise is still active in the ONS Inter-Departmental Business Register; it does not mean the business is profitable, growing, or trading under the same name or ownership. More recent birth-year cohorts have fewer years of survival data published, purely because less time has elapsed since they were born, not because of any data gap.
Updated. Table 4.2 was last published 2025-11-20. Data generated 2026-07-23.
- Business Demography, UK -- Table 4.2 (Survival of newly born enterprises, broad industry group) (Office for National Statistics)
Download the survival data (CSV)
Free to cite and republish with attribution to Trade Tax Specialists. This page is a data summary and does not constitute tax or business advice on any individual situation.
Starting or running a construction business? Get your tax position right from day one.
Survival averages are no guarantee for any individual business, but cash flow discipline is one of the few factors within your control. Getting CIS deductions, Gross Payment Status and your Self Assessment right protects the cash your business needs to see out the years where survival rates matter most.
Frequently asked questions
What does the UK Construction Survival Index measure?
It tracks cohorts of newly-born construction enterprises (businesses registered for VAT or PAYE in a given year) and measures what percentage are still active 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 years later. The data comes from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Business Demography release, which assigns each enterprise to a broad industry group; Construction aligns to SIC 2007 Section F. Each birth-year cohort is tracked independently, so the most recent cohorts only have 1 or 2 years of survival data published so far.
How can construction companies survive longer than average when the sector has the most insolvencies?
These are two different measurements of two different things, and both are true at once. The Insolvency Service data (see our UK Construction Insolvency Index) counts formal insolvency events among registered companies, and construction has by far the largest number of active companies of any sector, so it naturally produces the largest number of insolvency events in absolute terms. The ONS survival data measures the proportion of each year's new business cohort that is still trading at all, for any reason for closure, not only insolvency, across a much broader 'enterprise' population that includes sole traders and partnerships as well as companies. A sector can have a high count of insolvencies and a comparatively strong survival rate simultaneously if its overall population is large and its closure rate (voluntary closure, retirement, merger, as well as insolvency) is not unusually high relative to other sectors.
Why might construction businesses survive at an above-average rate?
The data does not identify a single cause, but plausible contributing factors include steady underlying demand for repair, maintenance and improvement work that continues even when new-build activity slows, low barriers to continuing as a sole trader or small limited company once trade contacts and a client base are established, and the fact that many construction businesses are single-person or small-team operations with low fixed overheads, which makes them more resilient to a slow month or a late-paying client than a business with a large fixed cost base.
Where does this data come from?
The Business Demography release from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), specifically Table 4.2, 'Survival of newly born enterprises, broad industry group.' It is published under the Open Government Licence v3.0 and updated annually, typically in November. Figures are control-rounded to the base 5 by ONS before publication.
Does this mean my construction business is likely to survive?
The survival rates are averages across the whole Construction broad industry group and say nothing about any individual business. Survival depends heavily on factors this dataset cannot see, including how well cash flow, retentions and late payment are managed, which is exactly where a CIS subcontractor or contractor's own tax and financial position matters most. Our team works with construction businesses on the practical side of that, from CIS refunds and Gross Payment Status through to Self Assessment and structure decisions.