3,155 companies filed for bankruptcy. In the fourth quarter, down 56 percent
The company bankruptcies fell significantly in the corona year 2020 despite the economic crisis. “Against the background of the obligation to file, which has been suspended since March 1st, 2020, the number of insolvencies fell by 38 percent compared to the previous year,” said Statistics Austria Director General Tobias Thomas. In the fourth quarter, 56 percent fewer companies filed for bankruptcy. However, in view of the expiry of corona aid, experts and business representatives fear a wave of bankruptcies this year.
According to preliminary Statistics Austria data, a total of 3,155 companies filed for bankruptcy in the previous year, after more than 5,000 in 2019. The decline in company bankruptcies over the course of 2020 was particularly drastic, according to Statistics Austria on Wednesday. While 1,144 bankruptcies were filed for the first quarter of 2020, the number was only 538 in the fourth quarter. This meant that the number of bankruptcies fell by more than half (53 percent) from the first to the fourth quarter. There were 1,968 bankruptcies in the first half of the year and 1,187 in the second half of the year.
Viewed by sector, the highest number of corporate insolvencies in the year as a whole were in the financial services / other services sector (667). This was followed by construction (665), retail (563) and accommodation and catering (484). There were comparatively few bankruptcies in the areas of information and communication (105), personal services (168) and manufacturing (194). In 2019 there was a similar distribution of bankruptcies across the economic sectors. Statistics Austria emphasizes that the number of insolvencies is basically dependent on the number of companies active in the individual economic sectors.
