16 percent decline in the first eleven months
The number of corporate bankruptcies in Germany fell in the first eleven months of last year despite the corona crisis. From January to November 2020, the German local courts reported 14,621 corporate insolvencies. That was 15.9 percent less than in the same period last year, as the Federal Statistical Office announced on Thursday in Wiesbaden. The trend continued in November. The number fell by 26 percent to 1,046 bankruptcies.
One reason for the decrease is that the obligation to file for insolvency for over-indebted companies was suspended until the end of December 2020. According to the statisticians, the obligation to submit an application for insolvent companies, which will apply again from October, will only affect the figures later due to the processing time of the courts. The obligation to file for bankruptcy remains suspended until the end of April for over-indebted companies for which state aid is still pending.
Usually, an application for bankruptcy must be filed no later than three weeks after a reason for bankruptcy such as over-indebtedness or insolvency occurs. Experts recently assumed that the number of company bankruptcies will increase this year.
The claims of the creditors in November amounted to almost 1.4 billion euros, after 3.4 billion euros.
