The number of bankruptcies started to rise again in February, after the drop in January. This was reported by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Despite the increase, the number of bankruptcies has remained low compared to the period before the outbreak of the coronavirus.
According to Statistics Netherlands, 49 more companies were declared bankrupt in February than in January. That’s a 21% increase. The number of bankruptcies filed peaked at 911 in May 2013. Thereafter, the number of bankruptcies decreased until August 2017. After that, the trend remained rather flat until mid-2020.
Since then, the number of bankruptcies has further decreased and reached an all-time low in August 2021. After August 2022, the number of bankruptcies increased for four consecutive months to its highest level after May 2020. In January 2023, the number of bankruptcies has decreased.
Crown support
The fact that the number of bankruptcies has been quite low for some time is partly due to earlier government support for government, which has allowed even companies that weren’t fundamentally sound to survive. Meanwhile, businesses are no longer primarily afflicted by the coronavirus, but by sharply rising energy prices and high inflation in general. The government has also provided support for this.
As in previous months, commerce was the sector in which the largest number of bankruptcies were declared in February, i.e. 62. That is 29% more than in January. The construction industry follows with 34. Both sectors are among the largest industries. Relatively speaking, most of the bankruptcies were filed in February in the hospitality sector.
Source: BNR
Andrew Dwight is an author and economy journalist who writes for 24 News Globe. He has a deep understanding of financial markets and a passion for analyzing economic trends and news. With a talent for breaking down complex economic concepts into easily understandable terms, Andrew has become a respected voice in the field of economics journalism.
