Business failures - France 2018Mar

In February 2018, the number of corporate bankruptcies decreased by 6.0%
  • At the end of February 2018, the aggregated number of corporate bankruptcies over the last 12 months amounted to 53,793 down 6.0% compared to February 2017 (see tables A and B and charts 1 and 2).
Corporate bankruptcies decreased in most business sectors
  • The construction and real estate activities sectors recorded the strongest decrease in bankruptcies over the past 12 months ( 10.7% and -13.6%, respectively). Bankruptcies also decreased substantially in other sectors, particularly in advisory and business support activities (-6.8%), accommodation and food services (-6.2%) and industry (-5.5%).
  • However, corporate bankruptcies increased in information and communication (+1.2%), agriculture, forestry and fishing (+1.8%) and transport and storage (+5.9%).
In February 2018, SME bankruptcies decreased
  • Although increasing for small firms (+2.7%), bankruptcies overall decreased for SMEs (-6.1%). By contrast, bankruptcies increased for ISEs & large firms (+18 bankruptcies over 12 months, see table B).


    • The outstanding loan amount of firms filing for bankruptcy over the past 12 months accounts for 0.4% of the total outstanding loan amount reported to the Banque de France's Central Credit Register (see charts 3 and 4).

    The aggregated number of corporate bankruptcies decreased by 7.3% at the end of March 2018, according to provisional data (see tables A and B and chart 2).
To find out more: data on business start-ups are reported by the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE): Business start-ups 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) (gross data) Quater to quater sa/wda (bc) Monthly data sa / wda (c)
Feb.17 Feb.18 Feb.18/Feb.17 Mar.18 prov. Mar. 18/Mar. 17 Feb.18 Dec.17 Jan.18 Feb.18
Business sector
Agriculture, forestry and fishing (AZ) 1,457 1,493 2.5% 1,451 -3.4% -0.3% 143 89 121
Industry (BE) 4,096 3,819 -6.8% 3,811 -7.1% 2.1% 324 301 310
Construction (FZ) 13,365 11,932 -10.7% 11,700 -11.3% 2.2% 1,076 947 925
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles (g) 12,392 11,797 -4.8% 11,635 -6.5% 2.0% 1,075 870 951
Transportation and storage (H) 1,752 1,858 6.1% 1,852 4.5% 14.5% 188 149 169
Accommodation and food service activities (I) 7,629 7,147 -6.3% 7,107 -6.4% -5.3% 632 540 549
Information and communication (JZ) 1,359 1,375 1.2% 1,354 -1.5% 1.1% 144 85 109
Financial and insurance activities (KZ) 1,111 1,035 -6.8% 1,006 -9.5% -14.7% 78 75 79
Real estate activities (LZ) 2,034 1,758 -13.6% 1,758 -13.0% 6.2% 157 137 158
Advisory & Business support activities (MN) 6,218 5,754 -7.5% 5,703 -7.1% 6.6% 532 465 470
Education, human health and social work services, Arts, entertainment and recreation, Other service activities (P to S) 5,487 5,367 -2.2% 5,313 -3.7% -0.2% 460 403 427
All firms (d) 57,334 53,815 -6.1% 53,171 -7.1% 2.6% 4,905 4,075 4,307
Source: Banque de France - database: Fiben. Data available at end-April 2018
Calculation : Banque de France - Companies Directorate - Companies Observatory
a Aggregate number of corporate bankruptcies over the past 12 months compared to the same aggregate one year ago
b Aggregate number of corporate bankruptcies over the past 3 months compared to the same aggregate three months ago
c sa : seasonally adjusted - wda : working day adjusted
d 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) (gross datat) Quarter to quarter sa/wda (bc) Monthly data sa / wda (c)
Feb.17 Feb.18 Feb.18/Feb.17 Mar.18 prov. Mar.18/Mar.17 Feb.18 Dec.17 Jan.18 Feb.18
Size
SME, among them 57,304 53,766 -6.2% 53,122 -7.1% 2.6% 4,901 4,073 4,301
Micro-enterprises and unknown firm's size 54,079 50,657 -6.3% 50,044 -7.3% 2.5% 4,629 3,864 4,015
Very small firms 2,013 1,907 -5.3% 1,889 -5.0% 9.5% 162 138 196
Small firms 879 908 3.3% 897 0.2% -6.2% 67 73 74
Medium-size firms 333 294 -11.7% 292 -12.3% 2.2% 29 24 23
ISE - Large Firms 30 49 63.3% 49 58.1%
All firms 57,334 53,815 -6.1% 53,171 -7.1% 2.6% 4,905 4,075 4,307
Source: Banque de France - database: Fiben. Data available at end - April 2018
Calculation : Banque de France - Companies Directorate - Companies Observatory
a Aggregate number of corporate bankruptcies over the past 12 months compared to the same aggregate one year ago
b Aggregate number of corporate bankruptcies over the past 3 months compared to the same aggregate three months ago
c sa : seasonally adjusted - wda : working day adjusted
C - Changes in corporate bankruptcies
1 - Number of bankruptcies
Aggregate number of bankruptcies over the past 12 months
From December 1991 to February 2018
2 - Change in bankruptcies
Year-on-year change in the 12-month aggregate
From Dec. 1991 to February 2018 (+ March 2018 provisional)

(in %)
3 - Loan amounts of bankrupt non-financial firms over loan amount of all firms Aggregate over the past 12 months
From Dec. 2006 to February 2018 (+ March 2018 provisional)


(in %)
4 - Loan amounts of bankrupt non-financial firms over loan amount of all firms - broken down by firm size
Aggregate over the past 12 months
From Dec. 2006 to February 2018 (+ March 2018 provisional)

(in %)
Source : Banque de France, Companies Directorate, Data available at end-April 2018
More information on: methodology, time series, calendar
All the series published by the Banque de France are available at the following address Webstat Banque de France
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STAT INFO - March 2018
Corporate bankruptcies in FranceContact: GPS.support@banque-france.fr

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Business failures - France
  • Published on 05/15/2018
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Published on Tuesday, May 15, 2018