The number of insolvent companies in the EU reached its highest level since 2015 in the second quarter of 2023, according to Eurostat data released.

According to Eurostat, in the second quarter of 2023, the number of EU business bankruptcy filings increased for the sixth consecutive quarter. Compared to the previous quarter, the number of bankruptcies increased by 8.4% and reached the highest level since data collection began in 2015.

The hardest hit sectors are accommodation and catering – where bankruptcy filings increased by 23.9% in the second quarter of 2023 compared to the first quarter – followed by transport and storage (+15.2%) and education, health and social activities (+10.1%).

Compared to the pre-pandemic fourth quarter of 2019, the number of bankruptcy filings in the second quarter of 2023 was higher in most sectors of the economy. The largest increases in the number of bankruptcies, compared to the fourth quarter of 2019, were recorded in accommodation and food services (+82.5%) and transportation and storage services (+56.7%).

In contrast, in the second quarter of 2023, there were only two sectors of the economy where the number of bankruptcy filings was lower than in the pre-pandemic fourth quarter of 2019: industry (-11.5%) and construction (-2, 7%) .

In terms of new business registrations, compared to the previous quarter, after an increase of 2% in the first quarter of the year, they decreased slightly by 0.6% in the second quarter of 2023. In general, from 2023, the number of new business registrations was higher than in the period 2015-2022.