Insolvency statistics
Strongest increase in company bankruptcies since October
The economic flaut is difficult for the economy. The number of bankruptcies increases again more clearly. But experts restrict: the external circumstances are not to blame for every imbalance.
Is Germany threatening a bankruptcy wave? In July, the number of registered company insolvencies rose as much as it has not been since October. 19.2 percent more new bankruptcies than a year earlier counted the district courts in the month, as the Federal Statistical Office reports on the basis of preliminary information.
In May, the first decline in bankruptcies had awakened hope for a trend reversal since March 2023. But the numbers were already gaining in June. It is still open whether all cases are brought to the official statistics. According to the Federal Office, the time of the bankruptcy application is often approximately three months before.
Call for reforms – but also homemade problems
“The economic crisis continues- and therefore the wave of corporate bankruptcies continues to grow,” commented Jupp Zenzen, economic expert at the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK). After two years of recession, the liquidity of many companies was struck. In addition, high energy prices and a lot of bureaucracy burden. The economy needs “relief on a broad front,” warns Zenzen. Politics had to implement “the urgently needed reforms very quickly”.
According to the Association of the Insolvency Administrator and Welfare in Germany (VID), many companies also react too late to structural changes in their industries. “The cause of the entrepreneurial undesirable development with rising tariffs or high energy costs is sought too quickly,” says VID chairman Christoph Niering. “A dangerous misjudgment, since this addresses renovation measures too late or not comprehensive enough.”
Many smaller companies affected
The fact that the numbers are attracted more clearly again is shown in the recent monthly analysis of the Leibniz Institute for Economic Research Halle (IWH). The IWH has 1,588 bankruptcies of passenger and corporations in Germany- 13 percent more than in July 2024 and 64 percent more than in an average of July from 2016 to 2019, i.e. before Corona pandemic. Because there were fewer large insolvencies, comparatively few jobs were currently affected by the bankruptcies.
Except of the number of bankruptcies in the year as a whole
Various economic ideas about more company bankruptcies than 2024. Last year, according to official figures, a maximum of 21,812 cases had been registered with a maximum of 2015. The increase was expected after state support from Corona pandemic had expired. In addition, high energy prices, bureaucracy and political uncertainty burden companies.
For May 2025, the local courts reported 2,036 corporate bankruptcies requested for final results and thus 5.3 percent than a year earlier, as the Federal Statistical Office announced. Based on 10,000 companies, there were 5.9 company bankruptcies in this country in May. Most cases of traffic and storage with 10.9 bankruptcies each accounted for 10,000 companies. This was followed by the construction industry with 9.4 cases and the hospitality industry with 9.0 bankruptcies each.
dpa
Source: Stern
