Company insolvencies in Germany continue to rise. The number of registered company insolvencies increased by 4.4 percent to 2,067 in August compared to the previous year, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) reported on Friday.
The general trend is also upward: In the first eight months of 2026, 17,252 company insolvencies were registered. This was 6.6 percent more than in the corresponding period last year. Despite the increasing number of company insolvencies, creditor claims decreased to 25.9 billion Euros from 37.2 billion Euros in the previous year. The Federal Statistical Office stated that the decline in claims is due to the greater importance of the companies declared insolvent in the first eight months of 2025.
Based on 10,000 companies, there were a total of 48.7 company insolvencies from January to August 2026. The highest insolvency frequency was in the transport and storage sector with 97.6 cases per 10,000 companies. This was followed by the hospitality industry with 80.1 cases and the construction industry with 71.9 insolvencies. Consumer insolvencies also increased compared to the previous year. With 52,344 registered consumer insolvencies, the number was 1.2 percent higher than the previous year.
It should be noted that results only enter the statistics after the initial decision by the insolvency court. In many cases, the actual date of the insolvency application is approximately three months earlier.
