Corona aftermath and crisis Number of bankruptcies just shy of record
October 9, 2024, 7:05 p.m. Listen to article
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Almost 4,000 companies filed for bankruptcy nationwide in the third quarter. That is almost as many as in the record quarter of 2010. The reasons lie in the current economic crisis and the long-term effects of the pandemic. Researchers cannot give hope, on the contrary.
According to a report, the number of company bankruptcies in Germany rose significantly again in the third quarter of this year. As the news portal ZDF Today reported with reference to the insolvency trend of the Leibniz Institute for Economic Research Halle (IWH), the researchers recorded 3,991 insolvencies. That was only slightly less than in the second quarter of 2010, when a record number of 4,071 bankruptcies was reached. At that time, the effects of the financial crisis of 2008/2009 became apparent.
“The insolvency situation is currently at a significantly increased level,” said Steffen Müller from IWH to ZDF. The trigger for this is the weakening economy in Germany and catch-up effects from the corona pandemic. At that time, companies were supported with state aid and the number of bankruptcies was artificially reduced. According to the report, the scientists did not give the all-clear for the coming period. Instead, they expected a further increase in company bankruptcies.
The number of jobs lost is increasing even more
The most recent example is the textile company Soex, whose bankruptcy was only announced the day before. In Bitterfeld-Wolfen in Saxony-Anhalt, 400 people are likely to lose their jobs. But the travel company FTI Touristik is also mentioned. The catch-up effect of the pandemic is particularly clear here. Because traveling was out of the question during the Corona crisis. However, their number only increased slowly afterwards.
When bankruptcies occur, people often lose their jobs. Since many larger companies have recently gone bankrupt, the number of jobs affected has increased even more than the number of bankruptcies: by 44 percent compared to the previous year, reports ZDF Today.
In the third quarter, the real estate industry was particularly affected by bankruptcies. In this sector the value increased by 69 percent compared to the same quarter last year. For business-related services, the number was 31 percent higher than in the previous year.
