The number of corporate insolvencies in Germany increased significantly in July. In that month, almost a quarter (23.8 percent) more companies applied for standard insolvency proceedings than in the same month last year, as the Federal Statistical Office announced on Friday in Wiesbaden. There had already been an increase of almost 14 percent in June. The number of corporate insolvencies has been increasing continuously since August 2022.
The proceedings are included in the statistics only after the first decision of the insolvency court. Therefore, the actual time of the insolvency application is in many cases around three months earlier, the authority explained.
The final figures for May are now available: In that month, the German district courts reported 1,478 corporate insolvencies, 19 percent more than in the same month last year. The local courts put the claims of the creditors at almost 4 billion euros. In May 2022 it was almost 2.2 billion euros.
Most insolvencies per 10,000 companies were in the transport and warehousing sector with 8.7 cases, followed by other economic services, such as temporary employment agencies, with 7.4 cases. There were fewer insolvencies in the energy supply sector.
In recent years, state aid and the partially suspended obligation to file for insolvency have kept the number of company bankruptcies at a low level – despite the corona and energy crises. Experts had therefore expected an increase in the current year.
More companies are giving up their businesses
Meanwhile, in the first half of the current year, more larger companies in Germany went out of business than a year earlier. 50,600 tasks meant an increase of 12.4 percent compared to the first half of 2022, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office. At the same time, 62,700 new companies were founded whose legal form or number of employees indicate greater economic importance.
Including small businesses and part-time businesses, the number of business start-ups was 317,600, a good ten percent above the comparable value from the previous year. 246,500 businesses were completely abandoned in the first six months of the year. That was even 14 percent more than in the first half of 2022.
