Business failures - France 2023Jun
Published on 6 July 2023
At the end of June, the number of corporate bankruptcies rose again but remained below its average pre-pandemic level
- The catch-up in the number of corporate bankruptcies initiated in fall 2021 continues. Over one year (between July 2022 and June 2023), it reaches 48,673 against 33,570 a year earlier and 59,342 on average pre-pandemic (see Figure 1, as well as Tables A and B).
- This catch-up trend affects all sectors of the economy (see Figure 2) and companies of all sizes, but to a lesser extent for microenterprises and indeterminate size (see Table B).
- The number of annual corporate bankruptcies remains significantly lower than the average level recorded over the 2010-2019 period, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Indeed, the number of corporate bankruptcies had been particularly low since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, due to the adoption of regulations temporarily granting additional time to both assess and report insolvency, and, later, 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 previous 12 months (a) (raw data) | ||||||||
| 2019 | May 23 | May 23/May 22 | May 23/2019 | June 22 | June 23 prov. | June 23/June 22 | June 23/2019 | |
| Business sector | ||||||||
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing (AZ) | 1,414 | 1,225 | 9.3% | -13.4% | 1,099 | 1,180 | 7.4% | -16.5% |
| Industry (BE) | 3,436 | 3,513 | 58.9% | 2.2% | 2,313 | 3,590 | 55.2% | 4.5% |
| Construction (FZ) | 11,089 | 9,748 | 44.4% | -12.1% | 6,978 | 9,826 | 40.8% | -11.4% |
| Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (G) | 11,137 | 10,666 | 49.9% | -4.2% | 7,353 | 10,747 | 46.2% | -3.5% |
| Transportation and storage (H) | 2,097 | 1,941 | 37.5% | -7.4% | 1,470 | 1,957 | 33.1% | -6.7% |
| Accommodation and food service activities (I) | 6,840 | 6,591 | 81.2% | -3.6% | 3,860 | 6,789 | 75.9% | -0.7% |
| Information and communication (JZ) | 1,277 | 1,459 | 50.9% | 14.3% | 1,012 | 1,480 | 46.2% | 15.9% |
| Financial and insurance activities (KZ) | 1,086 | 1,113 | 47.0% | 2.5% | 765 | 1,142 | 49.3% | 5.2% |
| Real estate activities (LZ) | 1,631 | 1,603 | 31.3% | -1.7% | 1,183 | 1,623 | 37.2% | -0.5% |
| Advisory & Business support activities (MN) | 5,813 | 5,508 | 36.1% | -5.2% | 4,209 | 5,546 | 31.8% | -4.6% |
| Education, human health and social work services, Arts, entertainment and recreation, Other service activities (P to S) | 5,140 | 4,607 | 48.9% | -10.4% | 3,260 | 4,708 | 44.4% | -8.4% |
| All firms (b) | 51,145 | 48,051 | 48.3% | -6.0% | 33,570 | 48,673 | 45.0% | -4.8% |
Source: Banque de France - database: Fiben. Data available in early July 2023: final for May, provisional for June.
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 previous 12 months (a) (raw data) | ||||||||
| 2019 | May 23 | May 23/May 22 | May 23/2019 | June 22 | June 23 prov. | June 23/June 22 | June 23/2019 | |
| Size | ||||||||
| SME, among them | 51,119 | 48,007 | 48.3% | -6.1% | 33,547 | 48,620 | 44.9% | -4.9% |
| Micro-enterprises and unknown firm's size | 48,747 | 44,341 | 45.8% | -9.0% | 31,457 | 44,874 | 42.7% | -7.9% |
| Very small firms | 1,478 | 2,255 | 83.6% | 52.6% | 1,297 | 2,321 | 79.0% | 57.0% |
| Small firms | 650 | 1,054 | 92.3% | 62.2% | 595 | 1,058 | 77.8% | 62.8% |
| Medium-size firms | 244 | 357 | 85.0% | 46.3% | 198 | 367 | 85.4% | 50.4% |
| ISE - Large Firms | 26 | 44 | 91.3% | 69.2% | 23 | 53 | 130.4% | 103.8% |
| All firms | 51,145 | 48,051 | 48.3% | -6.0% | 33,570 | 48,673 | 45.0% | -4.8% |
Source: Banque de France - database: Fiben. Data available in early July 2023: final for May, provisional for June.
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 May 2023 (+ June 2023 provisional)
Cumulated over previous 12 months
From Dec. 1991 to May 2023 (+ June 2023 provisional)
Note: The dotted green curve represents the average value of the number of corporate bankruptcies over twelve months observed monthly between December 1991 and December 2019. The orange curve represents this average level over the period January 2010 - December 2019, which is a high for the observation period.
2 - Number of bankruptcies by sector
Cumulated over previous 12 months
From Dec. 2015 to May 2023 (+ June 2023 provisional)
Cumulated over previous 12 months
From Dec. 2015 to May 2023 (+ June 2023 provisional)
3 - Monthly number of bankruptcies
From Jan. 2019 to May 2023 (+ June 2023 provisional)
From Jan. 2019 to May 2023 (+ June 2023 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 May 2023 (+ June 2023 provisional)
(in %)
Cumulated over previous 12 months
From Dec. 2006 to May 2023 (+ June 2023 provisional)
(in %)
Source: Banque de France - database: Fiben. Data available in early July 2023 final for May, provisional for June.
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