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The most prominent insolvencies of this year include the furniture store Kika/Leiner, the car accessories chain Forstinger and various fashion retailers such as Tally Weijl and Gerry Weber. A total of 2,661 companies filed for bankruptcy from January to June, an increase of ten percent. The numbers are at the pre-pandemic level of 2019. According to the creditor protection association Creditform, 21 insolvency proceedings are opened every working day.
Most were filed in trade and construction, while the number of bankruptcies in tourism and manufacturing has increased. “The Corona catch-up effect is only having a limited effect. But there are also the challenges of a shortage of skilled workers, inflation, weak domestic consumption and the ailing of Austria’s most important trading partner Germany,” says Gerhard Weinhofer, managing director of the creditor protection association.
The liabilities of the indebted companies amount to 1.1 billion euros, a total of 10,000 jobs and 29,000 creditors are affected. According to Creditreform, around seven out of 1,000 companies in Austria have to file for insolvency.
“Alarmism out of place”
The number of personal bankruptcies has also risen, rising by five percent to 4981 compared to the same period last year. The strongest increases were in Vorarlberg and Salzburg, in Upper Austria 751 personal bankruptcies were recorded – an increase of ten percent. According to Creditreform, eight out of 10,000 adults in Austria are insolvent. A third of the debtors are failed self-employed, the average debt is around 61,000 euros.
However, according to Managing Director Weinberger, this is not a reason for alarmism: “If you consider the cassandra calls about the impoverishment of medium-sized businesses, the trend in private bankruptcies shows that alarmism is out of place. A still robust labor market, high salary settlements and numerous financial support from the state and the federal states have reduced the inflationary pressure.” For the whole of 2023, the creditor protection association expects 9,000 to 10,000 personal bankruptcies.
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