Business failures - France 2022Jul
Published on 10 August 2022
At the end of July, the number of corporate bankruptcies remains one third below its level before Covid
- In July, the number of corporate bankruptcies remains just above 3,000, in line with the previous months of this year (see Figure 3).
- The number of corporate bankruptcies over one year (between August 2021 and July 2022) is 34,653. This is 32.2 % lower than the cumulative number of bankruptcies recorded during the year 2019, before the COVID-19 crisis (see Figure 1, as well as Tables A and B).
- Corporate bankruptcies remain at a lower level than before the COVID-19 crisis, but are progressively increasing with respect to 2021. However, interpreting these variations calls for caution, since during that period the number of corporate bankruptcies was particularly low, due to the temporary closure of commercial courts, the adoption of regulations temporarily granting additional time to both assess and report insolvency, and, later, the cash support measures to avoid the occurrence of insolvency.
To find out more: data on business start-ups are reported by the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE): Business births on the INSEE's website
A - Corporate bankruptcies by sector![]()
Bankruptcies in number of legal units, year on year change (%)
| Aggregate over the last 12 months (a) (raw data) | ||||||||
| 2019 | June 21 | June 22 | June 22/June 21 | June 22/2019 | July 22 prov. | July 22/July 21 | July 22/2019 | |
| Business sector | ||||||||
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing (AZ) | 1,414 | 1,102 | 1,083 | -1.7% | -23.4% | 1,062 | -1.8% | -24.9% |
| Industry (BE) | 3,434 | 1,868 | 2,319 | 24.1% | -32.5% | 2,408 | 30.2% | -29.9% |
| Construction (FZ) | 11,089 | 5,898 | 6,938 | 17.6% | -37.4% | 7,211 | 24.4% | -35.0% |
| Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (G) | 11,135 | 6,148 | 7,349 | 19.5% | -34.0% | 7,643 | 27.9% | -31.4% |
| Transportation and storage (H) | 2,097 | 1,146 | 1,472 | 28.4% | -29.8% | 1,514 | 32.6% | -27.8% |
| Accommodation and food service activities (I) | 6,840 | 3,258 | 3,859 | 18.4% | -43.6% | 4,083 | 34.4% | -40.3% |
| Information and communication (JZ) | 1,277 | 860 | 1,011 | 17.6% | -20.8% | 1,044 | 23.1% | -18.2% |
| Financial and insurance activities (KZ) | 1,088 | 676 | 768 | 13.6% | -29.4% | 800 | 22.3% | -26.5% |
| Real estate activities (LZ) | 1,631 | 1,314 | 1,183 | -10.0% | -27.5% | 1,199 | -6.5% | -26.5% |
| Advisory & Business support activities (MN) | 5,813 | 3,757 | 4,219 | 12.3% | -27.4% | 4,309 | 17.0% | -25.9% |
| Education, human health and social work services, Arts, entertainment and recreation, Other service activities (P to S) | 5,140 | 2,819 | 3,243 | 15.0% | -36.9% | 3,304 | 21.8% | -35.7% |
| All firms (b) | 51,145 | 28,924 | 33,516 | 15.9% | -34.5% | 34,653 | 23.1% | -32.2% |
Source: Banque de France - database: Fiben. Data available in early August 2022: final for June, provisional for July.
Calculation : Banque de France - Companies Directorate - Companies Observatory
a Aggregate number of corporate bankruptcies over the previous 12 months compared to the same aggregate one year before and in 2019 (January to December 2019).
b The line « All firms » includes legal units whose business sector is not known
Calculation : Banque de France - Companies Directorate - Companies Observatory
a Aggregate number of corporate bankruptcies over the previous 12 months compared to the same aggregate one year before and in 2019 (January to December 2019).
b The line « All firms » includes legal units whose business sector is not known
B - Corporate bankruptcies by firm size![]()
Bankruptcies in number of legal units, year on year change (%)
| Aggregate over the last 12 months (a) (raw data) | ||||||||
| 2019 | June 21 | June 22 | June 22/June 21 | June 22/2019 | July 22 prov. | July 22/July 21 | July 22/2019 | |
| Size | ||||||||
| SME, among them | 51,121 | 28,885 | 33,494 | 16.0% | -34.5% | 34,630 | 23.2% | -32.3% |
| Micro-enterprises and unknown firm's size | 48,799 | 27,280 | 31,359 | 15.0% | -35.7% | 32,394 | 22.2% | -33.6% |
| Very small firms | 1,447 | 980 | 1,346 | 37.3% | -7.0% | 1,409 | 44.4% | -2.6% |
| Small firms | 625 | 448 | 587 | 31.0% | -6.1% | 607 | 36.4% | -2.9% |
| Medium-size firms | 250 | 177 | 202 | 14.1% | -19.2% | 220 | 31.0% | -12.0% |
| ISE - Large Firms | 24 | 39 | 22 | -43.6% | -8.3% | 23 | -39.5% | -4.2% |
| All firms | 51,145 | 28,924 | 33,516 | 15.9% | -34.5% | 34,653 | 23.1% | -32.2% |
Source: Banque de France - database: Fiben. Data available in early August 2022: final for June, provisional for July.
Calculation : Banque de France - Companies Directorate - Companies Observatory.
a Aggregate number of corporate bankruptcies over the previous 12 months compared to the same aggregate one year before and in 2019 (January to December 2019).
Calculation : Banque de France - Companies Directorate - Companies Observatory.
a Aggregate number of corporate bankruptcies over the previous 12 months compared to the same aggregate one year before and in 2019 (January to December 2019).
C - Changes in corporate bankruptcies![]()
1 - Number of bankruptcies
Cumulated over previous 12 months
From Dec. 1991 to June 2022 (+ July 2022 provisional)
Cumulated over previous 12 months
From Dec. 1991 to June 2022 (+ July 2022 provisional)
2 - Change in number of bankruptcies
Annual year-on-year change
From Dec. 1991 to June 2022 (+ July 2022 provisional)
(in %)
Annual year-on-year change
From Dec. 1991 to June 2022 (+ July 2022 provisional)
(in %)
3 - Monthly number of bankruptcies
From Jan. 2019 to June 2022 (+ July 2022 provisional)
From Jan. 2019 to June 2022 (+ July 2022 provisional)
4 - Loan amounts of bankrupt non-financial firms over loan amount of all firms - by firm size
Cumulated over previous 12 months
From Dec. 2006 to June 2022 (+ July 2022 provisional)
(in %)
Cumulated over previous 12 months
From Dec. 2006 to June 2022 (+ July 2022 provisional)
(in %)
Source: Banque de France - database: Fiben. Data available in early August 2022: final for June, provisional for July.
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Updated on 9 August 2022