Number of business failures in Germany increased

The number of business failures in Germany also increased in February. Germany’s district courts reported 1,362 business insolvencies — that’s 20.3 percent more than in the same month last year, the Federal Statistical Office announced on Friday. According to the Wiesbaden authorities, the number of company bankruptcies has been steadily increasing since August 2022.

The courts estimate the presumed claims of the creditors at almost 3.2 billion euros. Most business insolvencies in February were 237 in construction and 234 in commerce, including motor vehicle maintenance and repair.

There were signs of easing in April. According to preliminary information from the statisticians, 14.1 percent fewer standard insolvencies were filed than in March. In February (plus 10.8 percent) and March (plus 13.2 percent) they were up on the respective previous month. The authority stressed that the insolvency filings only enter the statistics with a delay of several months.

State aid and the partially suspended bankruptcy obligation have kept business failures on the back burner in recent years, despite the corona and energy crisis. The professional association of trustees and receivers in Germany recently assumed that the increase in company bankruptcies in a long-term comparison only indicates a normalization of insolvency events.

(yam/sda/awp/dpa)