Wave of Bankruptcies Continues: More and More Companies Are Insolvent

The increase in company bankruptcies amounted to 6.1 percent in the first half of 2025, according to an estimate by the creditor protection association KSV1870 on Tuesday. However, significantly fewer employees were affected so far, and the liabilities were more than halved after the major Signa bankruptcies in the previous year.

Company Bankruptcies Significantly Increased in the First Half of 2025

An estimated 3,500 companies are likely to have filed for insolvency in the first half of the year. Of these, 1,325 cases (an increase of 10.5 percent) were not opened due to lack of cost coverage. The liabilities - that is, the outstanding debts of the affected companies - decreased by almost 57 percent in total to 4.8 billion euros, which the KSV1870 attributes to a decline in major insolvencies (liabilities over 500 million euros).

This year, there was only one major insolvency with Herkules Holding GmbH, which belongs to the Signa Group. From January to June 2024, there were five - four of which are also attributable to the Signa empire of the now-imprisoned entrepreneur René Benko. In the first six months of 2025, an estimated 10,500 employees and 20,000 creditors were affected by an insolvency - a decrease of 20.5 and 23.4 percent, respectively.

Trade, Construction, and Hospitality Most Affected

Almost half of the insolvencies in the half-year were attributed to trade, the construction industry, and the hospitality/hotel industry, albeit with different trends. While cases in retail (324 cases) increased by eleven percent, there was only a 3.6 percent increase in total trade (599) - this is probably also due to a five percent decline in wholesale (167). In the construction industry (552), there were 4.3 percent fewer insolvencies, whereas in gastronomy and accommodation (422), there were 5.2 percent more bankruptcies.

Slight Decline in Personal Bankruptcies

In 4,526 cases, individuals applied for debt settlement proceedings in the first half of the year - a slight decline of 1.6 percent compared to the previous year. The liabilities here, according to preliminary figures, climbed by 5.4 percent to 567 million euros. The average debt per debtor thus increased by 8,000 to 125,000 euros.

There were also significant differences with regard to the federal states. While Vienna recorded 6.1 percent more personal bankruptcies and a 52 percent increase in liabilities, personal insolvencies and liabilities in Styria decreased by around 15 percent each. Tyrol recorded a significant increase in liabilities of 86.1 percent with around five percent fewer proceedings. In Burgenland, liabilities rose by 63.6 percent despite three percent fewer proceedings.

(APA/Red)

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