By Maria Martinez<\/p>\n
BERLIN, Dec 8 (Reuters) – German corporate insolvencies are projected to hit their highest level in more than a decade this year, a new study revealed on Monday, as the nation grapples with a stubborn economic downturn.<\/p>\n
Approximately 23,900 companies are expected to file for bankruptcy in 2025, an 8.3% increase from 2024 and the highest figure since 2014, according to a report by credit agency Creditreform.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While that growth would be slower than in previous years, the rising numbers underscore deep-seated challenges facing German businesses following two years of economic contraction.<\/p>\n
Many businesses are heavily indebted, struggle to obtain new loans, and are battling structural burdens such as energy prices or regulation, said Patrik-Ludwig Hantzsch, head of economic research at Creditreform.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“This puts small and medium-sized businesses, in particular, under immense pressure and is crippling many operations,” Hantzsch said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2026 OUTLOOK REMAINS CLOUDED\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
This year’s increase in insolvencies has been driven by a rise in cases among smaller companies, with micro-enterprises, of up to ten employees, accounting for the largest share – 81.6% this year, marginally higher than in 2024. <\/p>\n
While individually these have a lower impact on financial damages and employment, the financial toll on creditors, including suppliers and banks, remains substantial. <\/p>\n
Creditreform expects financial losses from insolvencies to reach around 57 billion euros ($66.41 billion) in 2025, against 59.1 billion euros in 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On average, financial losses per insolvency case will exceed 2 million euros, according to the report.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Within the workforce, corporate failures are expected to affect roughly 285,000 employees, a slight decrease from 291,000 in the previous year.<\/p>\n
The report painted a cautious outlook for 2026, despite government plans for infrastructure and rearmament investments aimed at stimulating growth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“The German economy is losing competitiveness,” said Bernd Buetow, CEO of Creditreform. “High costs, bureaucracy, and the ongoing economic weakness will continue to drive insolvencies.”<\/p>\n
INSOLVENCIES SPREAD TO CONSUMERS\u00a0<\/p>\n
The negative trend extends to consumers, with personal insolvencies forecast to rise by another 6.5% in 2025 to reach approximately 76,300 cases \u2013 the highest since 2016.<\/p>\n
“The main cause for this is the increasing over-indebtedness of people,” Hantzsch said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He highlighted that some 5.67 million citizens in Germany are currently considered over-indebted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“High living costs, job cuts, and rising unemployment are pushing many households to their limits,” he added.<\/p>\n
($1 = 0.8583 euros)<\/p>\n
(Reporting by Maria Martinez and Rene Wagner; Editing by Jan Harvey)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Maria Martinez BERLIN, Dec 8 (Reuters) – German corporate insolvencies are projected to hit their highest level…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":621456,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5310],"tags":[2000,299,1824],"class_list":{"0":"post-621455","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-germany","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-germany"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115687808260739658","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=621455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/621456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=621455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=621455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=621455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}