In January 2026, German local courts recorded 1,919 applications for corporate insolvency. According to data released on Tuesday by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), this figure represents a 4.9 percent increase compared to the previous month. It is important to note that this statistic reflects applications only after the initial decision from the insolvency court, meaning the actual filing date of the insolvency application often occurred nearly three months earlier.
The total claims from creditors associated with the corporate insolvencies registered in January 2026 were estimated by the local courts to be around 3.1 billion euros. This figure marks a decrease from the approximately 5.3 billion euros recorded in January 2025, despite the rise in the number of corporate insolvency applications. This decline in total claims is attributed to the fact that fewer economically significant companies filed for insolvency in January 2026 compared to January 2025.
When calculated per 10,000 companies, the rate of corporate insolvency in January 2026 was 5.4. The hospitality sector saw the highest rate of insolvency, with 9.1 cases per 10,000 companies. This was followed by the transportation and storage sector, which reported 8.6 cases, and the construction industry, with 7.8 insolvencies.
Furthermore, the number of consumer insolvencies in January 2026 was 6,142, which represented a 1.3 percent decrease compared to the same month last year.
