UK sector benchmarks

What a company your size, in your sector, actually puts on its balance sheet

Most published benchmarks are rules of thumb with nothing behind them. These are quartiles computed from accounts filed at Companies House, split by sector and by company size, with the number of companies stated beside every figure.

20 sectors published, 5 figures each, as at 2026-Q4, the fourth quarter of 2026. Groups of fewer than 50 companies are suppressed and said to be suppressed.

Source: Companies House. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Pick a sector

Every sector that clears the floor

A sector is published when all 5 figures clear the 50-company floor across all company sizes. That is a rule rather than a list, so a sector joins or leaves the set as the filings do.

Agriculture, forestry and fishingMedian current ratio 1.10x across 3,278 companiesMining and quarryingMedian current ratio 1.54x across 389 companiesManufacturingMedian current ratio 1.32x across 16,640 companiesElectricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supplyMedian current ratio 1.25x across 914 companiesWater supply, sewerage and waste managementMedian current ratio 1.21x across 1,163 companiesConstructionMedian current ratio 1.30x across 43,009 companiesWholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehiclesMedian current ratio 1.12x across 48,009 companiesTransport and storageMedian current ratio 1.14x across 10,713 companiesAccommodation and food serviceMedian current ratio 0.84x across 19,985 companiesInformation and communicationMedian current ratio 1.35x across 31,177 companiesFinancial and insurance activitiesMedian current ratio 1.38x across 10,318 companiesReal estate activitiesMedian current ratio 0.52x across 42,978 companiesProfessional, scientific and technical activitiesMedian current ratio 1.55x across 48,001 companiesAdministrative and support service activitiesMedian current ratio 1.26x across 26,720 companiesPublic administration and defenceMedian current ratio 1.42x across 615 companiesEducationMedian current ratio 1.24x across 6,736 companiesHuman health and social work activitiesMedian current ratio 1.62x across 17,554 companiesArts, entertainment and recreationMedian current ratio 1.15x across 8,844 companiesOther service activitiesMedian current ratio 1.17x across 17,342 companiesActivities of households as employersMedian current ratio 2.12x across 4,820 companies

What is not here

No trading figures, and no figure for all UK companies

Small companies file abridged accounts: a balance sheet and no trading account. So these pages carry no sector trading figures, at any sample size, because the source does not hold them.

Nor is there a single figure across every sector. A middle value taken across incomparable industries is a number about nothing, which is what most of the ranges on page one of a search for this are.

The method page states the source, the quarter, the suppression rule, what the source itself does not cover, and the sectors that are excluded.

Citing this

Free to quote, with one line beside it

If a figure here is useful in something you are writing, please use it. This is the line we would like beside it.

CFO Pal, "UK sector benchmarks", from Companies House filed accounts, 2026-Q4. https://www.cfopal.co.uk/benchmarks

Source: Companies House. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.