In 2025 German district courts registered 24,064 company‑insolvency filings, a 10.3 % increase over the previous year. 2024 and 2023 had already seen rises of more than 20 % each (22.4 % in 2024 and 22.1 % in 2023). The only year with a higher total was 2014, which reported 24,085 cases; the peak during the 2009 financial‑and‑economic crisis was 32,687.
The figures reflect filings only after the first decision of the insolvency court. In most cases the initial application was made roughly three months earlier.
Creditors’ claims in the 2025 filings totalled about €47.9 billion. In 2024 they were around €58.1 billion. The decline in claim value, despite the higher number of filings, is explained by fewer large‑scale insolvencies in 2025: the count of “big” cases dropped by 15.6 % (49 fewer cases) and each carried a claim sum of €25 million, compared with 2024.
When measured per 10,000 companies, 2025 saw 69 insolvencies overall. The sector with the highest frequency was transport and storage, with 133 cases per 10,000 firms; hospitality followed with 108, construction 104, and other economic services such as temporary‑employment agencies 100.
December 2025 alone brought 2,037 insolvency filings-13.7 % more than the same month in 2024. Creditors’ claims in that month summed to €3.6 billion, down from €5.8 billion a year earlier.
Consumer insolvencies numbered 77,219 in 2025, an 8.4 % increase on the previous year. In December, 6,278 consumer filings were recorded, representing a 12.3 % rise over the same month last year.