Germany’s Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) said on Friday that 5,209 people filed for bankruptcy in Germany in the first 3 months of 2024, and that this trend is expected to continue.
Experts estimate that the number of company insolvencies in Germany will rise to around 20,000 this year, as part of a long-term trend.
The most recent figure means that corporate insolvencies increased by 26. 5% through the first quarter of 2023.
They are also 11. 2% more than in the first quarter of 2020, when 4,683 business insolvency files were filed before the COVID-19 pandemic had its full impact. The era of the coronavirus pandemic itself has seen the arrival of special and transitory rates and insolvency relief.
The transportation and storage sector accounted for the number of bankruptcies of 10,000 companies, with 29. 6 cases at the beginning of 2024.
It is followed by the structural sector with 23. 5 cases and other economic sectors such as employment agencies with 23 cases. The productive sector registered 20. 3 insolvencies corresponding to 10,000 companies.
Local courts estimated that creditor claims resulting from corporate bankruptcies as of the end of March amounted to around €11. 3 billion, up from €6. 7 billion last year.
There were also 17,478 customer bankruptcies in the first quarter of 2024, an increase of 4. 8% over the 2023 period.
Last year, Destatis figures showed that insolvency programs increased by 22. 4% between October 2023 and October 2022.
German exports appear to be accelerating for the latest time according to figures released on Friday, raising hopes that Europe’s largest economy has emerged from a slowdown.
However, Carsten Brzeski, chief economist at Dutch bank ING in Germany, predicts “another bloodless rain for the optimists. “
Germany’s export-oriented economy has been hit hard in recent years by the slowdown in the global economy, temporarily elevated energy costs and emerging interest rates.
Edited by: Sean Sinico
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