German insolvencies stay level in February

The number of insolvency filings at Germany's local courts in February stayed roughly the same compared to last year, the Federal Statistical Office reported on Friday.

In February, 2,053 companies reported they were unable to pay their debts, the office said. That was 0.7% fewer than in the same month a year earlier. In January and December, there were year-on-year increases in the number of insolvencies.

The proportion of insolvencies was high in the transport and storage sector, with 11.1 cases per 10,000 companies.  The hospitality sector was also badly affected in February with 9.7 cases per 10,000 companies. 

However, creditors' claims across all cases totalled €2.5 billion ($2.9 billion), far lower than a year earlier when €9 billion was at stake.

It is still unclear whether all cases will ultimately be taken far enough by the insolvency courts to be included in the official statistics. 

According to the statistics office, the insolvency applications often come almost three months before the firms are officially registered as insolvent.

According to the latest figures from the Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH), which analyses insolvency trends on a monthly basis, the number of insolvencies among partnerships and corporations rose in April to 1,776. That was 3% more than in March and 10% more than a year earlier, the IWH said.

Researchers have reported that insolvencies reached the highest level for more than 20 years in the first quarter. In 2025, official figures show that as many companies in Germany went bust as at any time since 2014: there were 24,064 cases, according to the Federal Statistical Office, more than 10% higher than a year earlier.