Almost 600 companies in Luxembourg went bankrupt in the first quarter of this year, up 7% compared to the same time last year, with 1,474 jobs lost.
The number of job losses was down compared to the first three months of 2024, when 554 bankruptcies led to 1,674 redundancies.
The largest number of job losses in the first quarter of this year was in the construction sector, with 89 companies closing down, causing 515 people to lose their jobs.
However, both those numbers marked a slowdown in the slump in the construction sector compared to the same period last year, when 102 companies folded, leaving 830 people unemployed.
In the first quarter of this year, the majority of bankruptcies (167) came from holding companies and funds shutting down.
In the retail sector, bankruptcies also slowed down, with 84 companies closing during the first quarter of 2025, compared to 90 during the same period a year earlier. A total of 186 jobs in the sector were lost, compared to 210 last year.
However, bankruptcies in the hospitality industry picked up speed, with 61 businesses closing, up 5% compared to last year.
Fewer hospitality jobs were lost as a result of the bankruptcies, with 229 redundancies at the start of this year, compared to 327 job losses at the 58 companies that folded during the first three months of 2024.
The number of court-ordered liquidations also picked up from low levels seen at the start of 2024, with 50 companies liquidated, more than a third of which were holding companies and investment funds.