German district courts have recorded 2,276 applications for corporate insolvency in April 2026. According to data released by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Friday, this figure represents a 7.1 percent increase compared to the previous month of the prior year. It is important to note that these figures reflect the applications only after they have been registered by the insolvency court; the actual filing time is often nearly three months earlier.
Looking at the cumulative period from January to April 2026, a total of 8,551 company insolvency filings were registered, marking a 6.7 percent rise over the same four-month period last year.
Creditor claims reported from the company insolvencies filed between January and April 2026 amount to approximately 13.9 billion euros. This figure compares to roughly 22.5 billion euros filed during the corresponding period in 2025. Despite the increase in the number of companies filing for insolvency, this reduction in total claims is attributable to a larger proportion of economically significant companies having sought insolvency protection in 2025 compared to the period seen in 2026.
When analyzed against a population of 10,000 companies, the overall insolvency frequency for January to April 2026 stood at 24.1 cases. The highest rate of insolvency occurred in the transport and warehousing sector, with 43.9 cases per 10,000 companies. This was followed by the hospitality sector at 41.2 cases per 10,000 and the construction industry at 35.6 cases.
In parallel, the number of consumer insolvency cases reached 6,488 in April 2026, an increase of 2.5 percent year-over-year. For the broader period covering January to April 2026, 26,167 consumer insolvencies were reported, representing a 5.1 percent rise compared to the previous year.
