According to preliminary information from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the number of regular insolvencies filed in Germany rose by 12.3% in December 2023 compared to the same month last year. In November 2023 it had increased by 18.8% compared to November 2022. Since June 2023, double-digit growth rates have been observed year-on-year. When looking at the results, it should be taken into account that the applications are only included in the statistics after the first decision of the insolvency court. In many cases, the actual date of the insolvency application is almost three months beforehand. The insolvency statistics only reflect business tasks that take place in the course of insolvency proceedings, but not those for other reasons or before acute payment difficulties arise. These and other information must be taken into account when interpreting the insolvency statistics.
Number of corporate bankruptcies increased by 19.0% in October 2023 compared to October 2022
In October 2023, the district courts reported 1,481 filed corporate insolvencies according to final results. That was 19.0% more than in October 2022. From January to October 2023, the number of corporate insolvencies rose by 24.1% to 14,751 cases compared to the same period last year. From January to October 2022, however, the number was only slightly above the low level of the comparable period of 2021 (+1.3%), which was characterized by special Corona regulations. Compared to the comparable period of the pre-Corona year 2019, the number of corporate insolvencies from January to October 2023 was 7.7% lower.
The local courts put the creditors' claims from the corporate insolvencies reported in October 2023 at just under 1.6 billion euros. In October 2022, the claims were around 0.8 billion euros.
Frequency of insolvencies are highest in the transport and warehousing sector
Based on 10,000 companies, there were a total of 4.4 corporate bankruptcies in Germany in October 2023. The transport and warehousing sector accounted for the most insolvencies per 10,000 companies, with 8.1 cases. This was followed by other economic services (e.g. temporary employment agencies) with 6.7 cases.
11.7% more consumer bankruptcies in October 2023 than in the same month last year
In October 2023 there were 5,631 consumer bankruptcies. The number of consumer bankruptcies increased by 11.7% compared to October 2022. From January to October 2023, consumer bankruptcies rose by 1.3% compared to the same period last year to 55,649 cases.