This chart tracks the survival rate of all private American companies born in 2013, categorized by industry. Figures for this chart are rounded and sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), published 2024.
Only 34.7% of Businesses Survived Between 2013 and 2023
The agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting industry had the highest survival rate (50.5 percent still in business in 2023), followed by utilities (45.7 percent) and manufacturing (43.6 percent). The lowest survival rate was in mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction (24.5 percent). Other industries with low 10-year survival rates were information (29.1 percent) and wholesale trade (32.1 percent).
Overall, the survival rate for private-sector establishments born in March 2013 dropped most in first year of operation, as the rate fell by 20.4 percentage points from 2013 to 2014. This pattern held for all large industry groups, with the sharpest decline occurring in construction (−24.0 percentage points). Survival rates generally continued to decrease every year, typically declining less steeply as time passed.
Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction experienced a large drop in its survival rate (−15.3 percentage points) between 2015 and 2016. After this steep decline, the survival rate in this industry continued to trend below those of the other sectors.
Click the link to Visual Capitalist to see more survival rate data of private U.S. businesses born in 2013:
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/charted-the-survival-rate-of-u-s-businesses-2013-2023/
What industry do you work in, and how long have you been in business? Across all industries, the first year proved the most challenging for survival. What strategies helped you navigate that critical startup phase, and what approaches continue to support your success?