Economic slowdowns, increased interest rates and high energy prices have driven up the number of company bankruptcies this year. According to estimates by the credit agency Creditreform, 18,100 companies will have gone to insolvency court by the end of the year. According to the calculations, that would be 23.5 percent more than the year before. “More and more companies are collapsing under the constant pressure of high energy prices and the change in interest rates,” explained Patrik-Ludwig Hantzsch, head of Creditreform economic research, on Monday in Frankfurt when the figures were presented.
Like other experts, Creditreform expects a further increase in company bankruptcies. “The number of bankruptcies will continue to rise significantly in the coming months given these difficult economic conditions,” said Hantzsch. The number of cases has almost normalized and the special effects from the Corona period have largely evaporated. In order to avert a wave of bankruptcies as a result of the pandemic, the state temporarily made exceptions possible. In 2022, the number of insolvencies had already risen again for the first time since the economic crisis in 2009.
The robust situation on the labor market, however, has so far prevented an increase in consumer bankruptcies. Although the downward trend from the previous year did not continue, the number of consumer insolvencies remained almost unchanged at an estimated 66,200 cases (2022: 65,930). However, given the weak economic outlook, Creditreform expects increasing numbers here too, especially since the over-indebtedness situation of many people has deteriorated significantly. (dpa)