The increase in the number of bankruptcies in Germany in the first half of 2024 is 41% compared to the same period last year, reports the newspaper Handelsblatt with reference to a study by the consulting company in the field of business restructuring Falkensteg.
In the first six months of 2024, 162 German companies with a turnover of more than EUR 10 million went bankrupt. Among them are well-known companies, including major clothing manufacturer Esprit and Europe's third largest tour operator FTI. This increase in the number of insolvent companies exceeds the forecasts of experts, who expected an increase in bankruptcies for this period of about 30%, the publication notes.
It is becoming increasingly difficult for companies to restructure their businesses to avoid bankruptcy. Thus, Falkenstag's analysis showed that of the 279 companies that filed for bankruptcy in 2023, only 35% were saved by the end of the first half of 2024. Among the reasons for this situation, Handelsblatt points to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, inflation, including increased energy and raw material prices, weakening consumer demand, as well as uncertainty caused by global crises and negative forecasts for the German economy.
On June 25, German credit agency Creditreform reported that the number of bankruptcies in Germany in the first half of 2024 reached 11,000, the highest figure in almost a decade. Earlier, the International Monetary Fund cut its forecast for Germany's economic growth by 0.3 percentage points to 0.2% in 2024. Germany's GDP is down 0.3% in 2023 from the previous year. Experts from the German Federal Statistical Office noted at the end of last year a decline in the purchasing power of the population due to rising consumer prices.