In April 2024, the number of insolvencies of person and capital corporations in Germany unexpectedly rose significantly. According to the “Insolvenztrend” published by the Leibniz Institute for Economic Research in Halle, the highest value since July 2005 was reached. The number of affected jobs, on the other hand, decreased.
The number of insolvencies of person and capital corporations in Germany, according to the IWH, was 1,626 in April, which is 11 percent higher than the previous month, 21 percent higher than in April 2024 and 67 percent higher than in an average April of the years 2016 to 2019, before the Corona pandemic. The April figures even exceed the values from the time of the financial crisis in 2008/2009. The last time more insolvent person and capital corporations were counted in Germany was in July 2005.
The number of jobs affected by large insolvencies provides a good approximation of the total number of jobs affected by insolvency: According to IWH, 14,000 jobs were affected in April in the largest 10 percent of insolvent companies, which were 14 percent lower than the previous month’s value and 53 percent lower than the level of April 2024, but slightly more than the April average of the pre-Corona years 2016 to 2019.
“Should the share of smaller insolvency cases now approach the long-term average again, I expect declining insolvency numbers in the coming months” says Steffen Müller, head of the IWH insolvency research, on Thursday. “Nevertheless, we will experience more company bankruptcies in Germany in the foreseeable future than last year” he said.