For the first time since the economic crisis of 2009, the number of company bankruptcies in Germany is increasing again. According to Creditreform estimates, around 14,700 companies will have gone to insolvency court by the end of the current year. According to calculations by the credit agency, that would be around four percent more than in 2021.
“Persistent inflation, rising interest rates and energy costs, and an increasingly tough competitive situation are taking their toll on many companies,” explained the head of Creditreform’s economic research, Patrik-Ludwig Hantzsch, at the presentation of the figures on Tuesday in Frankfurt.
Experts expect a further increase
Like many other experts, Creditreform also expects a further increase in corporate insolvencies next year: The increase from 2021 to 2022 is moderate, “but should only be the prelude to a further acceleration in insolvency activity”.
According to official figures, in 2021, which was still heavily influenced by the corona pandemic, there were 13,993 cases of bankruptcies in Germany, the lowest number since the current insolvency code was introduced in 1999. In order to avert a wave of bankruptcies as a result of the pandemic, the state had made exceptions possible .
Creditreform is observing an opposite development in consumer insolvencies in the current year: According to this, the number of cases will fall by 17.3 percent to 65,300 in 2022 compared to the previous year. A year earlier, according to Creditreform figures, the number of consumer bankruptcies had shot up by 86.6 percent to almost 79,000 cases. The reason for this was a change in the law that made it possible to be released from the remaining debt after three instead of six years. According to experts, many of those affected had waited with their bankruptcy application until this change took effect.
