The economic crisis has led to significantly more company bankruptcies in Germany – and company bankruptcies could rise to record levels in 2025. The credit agency Creditreform is expecting 22,400 cases by the end of the current year. That would be an increase of almost a quarter compared to the previous year and the highest level since 2015 with just over 23,100 cases.
“With some delay, the crises of the past few years are now having an impact on companies as bankruptcies,” explained the head of Creditreform economic research, Patrik-Ludwig Hantzsch, in Frankfurt. “This means that insolvency figures could soon be close to the highs of 2009 and 2010, when over 32,000 companies went bankrupt.”
Significantly more major bankruptcies
Other experts had also predicted a significant increase in company bankruptcies for 2024. Weakened by the Corona years, high energy prices and increased interest rates, more and more companies are getting into difficulties. In addition, exemptions with which the state tried to avert a wave of bankruptcies during the pandemic have expired.
In the year that ended, a number of large companies were hit: Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof, FTI Touristik, Esprit Europe. However, the majority of bankruptcies were again companies with a maximum of ten employees: 81.4 percent across all sectors. According to Creditreform, a total of 320,000 jobs in this country will be threatened or lost due to corporate insolvencies in 2024. (dpa)