Huge increase in company bankruptcies in Germany

According to a statement from the German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), bankruptcy filings in October increased by 22.4 percent compared to the same month last year. In September there was a 19.5 percent increase in bankruptcies in the country compared to the previous year.

The increase in interest costs was stated to be effective in this regard.

Destatis reported that bankruptcies were included in the statistics after the first court decision.

The office also announced the final data for August on bankruptcies of companies and individuals in the country. Consequently, the number of companies that went bankrupt in August increased by 35.7 percent compared to August 2022, reaching 1,556.

WHAT BREAKS THE MOST IS IN TRANSPORTATION AND STORAGE

In August 2023, the highest number of bankruptcies occurred in the transportation and storage sector, with 9.9 cases per 10,000 companies. The service sector, such as temporary employment companies, followed with 7.7 cases per 10,000 companies.

The energy supply sector was the sector with the lowest incidence of bankruptcies, with 0.6 cases per 10 thousand companies.

DEBT OF 1,800 MILLION EUROS

Debt expected to be paid to creditors in connection with company bankruptcy claims was recorded at €1.8 billion. The debt in question amounted to approximately 800 million euros in August 2022.

In addition to company bankruptcies, 5,843 debtors also declared bankruptcy in August. The figure in question increased by 8.6 percent compared to the same period in 2022.

The German economy, which has experienced significant job losses in many sectors due to the Covid-19 crisis, has been negatively affected in recent months by the energy crisis, the lack of qualified and material employees and high inflation.

The tightening of monetary policy by the European Central Bank (ECB) also increases the financing costs of German companies. (AA)