Wave of insolvencies! Germany is experiencing historic proportions
Wave of insolvencies! Germany is experiencing historic proportions
Germany is experiencing a wave of insolvencies of historic proportions. Never in over a decade have so many companies had to give up as in the past year. What was long considered a temporary catch-up effect after the Corona pandemic has now developed into a structural crisis. Economic experts, credit insurers and restructuring consultants unanimously warn: The situation remains tense – and 2026 could be even more difficult for many companies.
According to current evaluations by various economic institutes and credit agencies, corporate insolvencies reached their highest level in more than ten years in 2025. Depending on the survey method, the number of companies affected is between around 18,000 and just under 24,000 cases. This makes it clear that the trend is not only pointing upwards, but has taken on a dimension that can no longer be explained by short-term special effects.
is particularly alarming that it is no longer just small businesses that are affected. Increasingly, larger medium-sized companies and established companies are also getting into difficulties. These so-called major insolvencies have a particularly explosive power because they destabilize entire supply chains, endanger numerous jobs and shake regional economic structures.
From catch-up effect to structural crisis
In the years after the pandemic, state aid, short-time work and suspended insolvency filing obligations had artificially kept many companies alive. Experts speak of a phase of "insolvency backlog". This phase is now finally over.
CLICK ADVERTISING!
Setting up a company within the EU?
Company Formation in Cyprus - Optimize Tax Burden by up to 80%!
The current figures clearly show that the bankruptcies are no longer the result of a belated market shakeout, but an expression of real economic overload. Rising financing costs, weak demand, high energy prices and increasing regulatory burdens are hitting companies whose reserves have largely been depleted in recent years.
In addition, there is a continuing reluctance to invest. Many companies have postponed necessary modernizations, reduced staff or reduced production capacities. What ensured survival in the short term is now weakening competitiveness – especially in an international comparison.
These sectors are under particular pressure
It is striking that insolvencies are concentrated in certain sectors of the economy. The construction industry continues to be particularly hard hit. Project developers and construction companies are suffering from high interest rates, reluctant investors and stagnating real estate markets. Many projects can no longer be economically viable.
The hospitality industry is also under considerable pressure. Hotels, restaurants and event businesses are struggling with rising costs, a shortage of skilled workers and a noticeable reluctance to consume. At the same time, margins remain low, so that even minor declines in sales can threaten the existence of the company.
In industry, energy-intensive companies, suppliers and export-dependent companies in particular are experiencing difficulties. The restructuring of supply chains, geopolitical uncertainties and weak global demand are further exacerbating the situation.
Increasing major insolvencies as a warning signal
Experts are particularly concerned about the increasing number of major company collapses. More and more companies with double-digit million sales are filing for bankruptcy. These cases are often not isolated, but drag service providers, suppliers and financing partners into the crisis. Restructuring consultants warn that this trend is likely to continue in 2026. Although many companies have formally survived the past few years, they are economically emaciated. As soon as credit lines are reviewed, follow-up financing becomes more expensive or payment terms are shortened, the fragile balance is tipped.
Why 2026 will bring little relief
Despite isolated economic hopes, experts do not expect a quick relief. Insolvencies follow economic developments with a time lag. Declines in orders that are noticeable today are often not reflected in insolvency applications until months later.
In addition, the cost base of many companies remains high. Wages, energy, rents and financing costs cannot be reduced in the short term. At the same time, there is a lack of growth that could absorb these burdens. According to many analysts, even moderate economic growth would not be enough to significantly reduce the insolvency figures.
Conclusion: The warning signs are clear
The record numbers of corporate insolvencies are no longer a temporary phenomenon. They mark a profound economic turning point. For many companies, 2026 will be a decisive year – not because of individual crises, but because of a combination of structural weaknesses, high costs and a lack of momentum.
Experts agree: Without real economic stimulus, reliable framework conditions and relief for companies, Germany is threatened with a prolonged phase of business closures – with noticeable consequences for the labour market, regions and economic stability.
Does politics bear responsibility for the wave of insolvencies?
Yes, partly – but not alone.
Politicians are not directly responsible for individual insolvencies, but they share responsibility because they set the economic framework conditions: taxes, energy prices, bureaucracy, labor law and investment incentives. High fixed costs and uncertain conditions reduce the resilience of many companies to crises.
At the same time, state aid in recent years has postponed insolvencies, not prevented them. This explains why there is now a concentrated increase.
The European Central Bank's interest rate turnaround and global factors such as economic weakness, geopolitical crises and disrupted supply chains are not the direct responsibility of politicians.
Conclusion:
The wave of insolvencies is the result of several factors. Politics cannot prevent crises, but it does influence how resilient companies are. This is precisely where their responsibility lies.
The wave of insolvencies is the result of several factors. Politics cannot prevent crises, but it does influence how resilient companies are. This is precisely where their responsibility lies.
Furthermore, the firewall policy in Germany could also bear responsibility for this.
The political discourse in Germany is highly polarized. In current practice, the so-called firewall against the Alternative for Germany means that political proposals are often evaluated not according to their content, but according to their sender. Positions of the AfD are rejected by the CDU, SPD, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen and Die Linke – even if they would be factually comprehensible or politically sensible.
This form of firewall means not only political demarcation, but a systematic refusal of substantive debate. As a result, arguments are not examined, pragmatic solutions are blocked and political decisions are increasingly made ideologically instead of rationally. Factual issues such as the economy, energy, migration or location policy are pushed into the background, while the camp struggle dominates.
Conclusion:
It is not the existence of a firewall that is the problem, but its use as an instrument that prevents debates on content and thus weakens the quality of democratic decision-making.
It is not the existence of a firewall that is the problem, but its use as an instrument that prevents debates on content and thus weakens the quality of democratic decision-making.
CLICK ADVERTISING!
Setting up a company within the EU?
Company Formation in Cyprus - Optimize Tax Burden by up to 80%!
Author: Tom Weyerman
Sources:
Who depicts this development?
The most important institutes and agencies
Federal Statistical Office (Destatis)
→ Official government statistics
- Records insolvency applications after court decision
- Legally defined data basis
- Delayed (insolvency often filed months earlier)
- Basis for politics, EU, legislation
➡️ Official, but sluggish
Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH)
→ Leading indicator / scientific insolvency trend
- IWH insolvency trend (monthly)
- Focus: Partnerships and corporations
- Very prompt, with a lot of attention from the media and business
- Good for early trend detection
➡️ Very relevant for current developments
Creditreform
→ Practical credit agency
- Broad coverage of corporate insolvencies
- Projections & annual forecasts
- Strongly anchored in medium-sized companies
- Uses real creditor and debt collection data
➡️ Realistic, market-oriented
Euler Hermes (Allianz Trade)
→ Credit insurer perspective
- Analyzes insolvencies by Payment defaults
- Strong international comparison
- Focus on major insolvencies & supply chain risks
➡️ Important for industry & export
Falkensteg
→ Restructuring & major insolvency analyses
- Specialized in large and group insolvencies
- Very relevant for SMEs and investors
- Early warnings from Restructuring mandates
➡️ Alarm bell for the substance of the economy
Short conclusion (without whitewashing)
- Official: Destatis
- Leading indicator: IWH
- Praxis & Mittelstand: Creditreform
- Risks & supply chains: Euler Hermes
- Major bankruptcies: Falkensteg
👉 We combine these sources because no single statistic alone .
