FRANKFURT, May 6 (Bernama-dpa) — The number of corporate bankruptcies in Western Europe was at its highest level last year since 2013, the credit agency Creditreform reported on Tuesday.
The agency recorded 190,449 cases, a 12.2 per cent increase compared to the previous year – and further increases are expected.
“Three years of stagnation and economic downturn have gripped not only Germany: Europe as a whole is suffering from weak economic growth,” said Patrik-Ludwig Hantzsch, head of economic research at Creditreform, reported German news agency dpa.
Since the low point in 2021, with 112,686 corporate bankruptcies, the number of insolvencies in Western Europe has risen by nearly 70 per cent, according to the analysis.
This increase is not solely due to the coronavirus pandemic. Rising energy prices, weak demand and geopolitical uncertainties have placed a heavy burden on many companies. The ongoing crises of recent years have left businesses with little opportunity to recover or grow further.
In 15 of the 17 Western European countries included in the Creditreform analysis, insolvency figures rose year-on-year. France accounted for just over one-third of corporate bankruptcies in Western Europe, with 66,088 cases – a 17.4 per cent increase compared to the previous year and a grim record.
The most significant increases were seen in Greece, up 42.5 per cent to 2,012 cases, due to new legal regulations, as well as in Ireland, up 32 per cent to 875 cases and the Netherlands, with a 31.7 per cent increase to 3,782 cases.
In Germany, Europe’s largest economy, 22,070 companies filed for insolvency last year, a 22.5 per cent increase compared to 2023, according to Creditreform. “This made Germany one of the main drivers of the growth in insolvencies in Western Europe,” it said.
–BERNAMA-dpa