Boston Consulting Group(@BCG):The rate at which US companies disappear has more than halved since 2000. Five-year failure risk (the proportion of companies present in a given year that are delisted within the following five years) peaked at around 40% in the early 2000s. It now sits at roughly 18%, about where it stood in 1980. The BCG Institute reached this number by assembling a database of over 30,000 US-listed public companies from the last 50 years. Its analysis found that a company’s failure rate depends on its age, size, and industry. Here’s what CEOs can do if their failure risk is rising:

2026.10.24 04:03

The rate at which US companies disappear has more than halved since 2000. Five-year failure risk (the proportion of companies present in a given year that are delisted within the following five years) peaked at around 40% in the early 2000s. It now sits at roughly 18%, about where it stood in 1980. The BCG Institute reached this number by assembling a database of over 30,000 US-listed public companies from the last 50 years. Its analysis found that a company’s failure rate depends on its age, size, and industry. Here’s what CEOs can do if their failure risk is rising: