Business failures - France 2022Apr
Published on 11 May 2022
The number of corporate bankruptcies remains low close to 31,000 over the last 12 months
- By the end of April 2022, the number of corporate bankruptcies over one year (between May 2021 and April 2022) is 30,915. This is 30 % lower than the cumulative number of bankruptcies recorded two years ago (between May 2019 and April 2020) and 43 % lower than three years ago (between May 2018 and April 2019), which is a period entirely before the COVID 19 crisis (see Figure 1). At this stage, there are no signs of a wave of insolvencies in the future.
- Interpreting the increase of 7.4 % with respect to the cumulative number of bankruptcies recorded last year (between May 2020 and April 2021) calls for caution since the latter includes the first months of the Covid-19 crisis. At the time, 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 resulted in a reduction of corporate bankruptcies.
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) | ||||||||
| Mar. 20 | Mar. 21 | Mar. 22 | Mar. 22/Mar. 21 | Mar. 22/Mar. 20 | Apr. 22 prov. | Apr. 22/Apr. 21 | Mar. 22/Mar. 20 | |
| Business sector | ||||||||
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing (AZ) | 1,276 | 971 | 1,072 | 10.4% | -16.0% | 1,044 | 1.8% | -13.7% |
| Industry (BE) | 3,177 | 1,822 | 2,010 | 10.3% | -36.7% | 2,119 | 14.4% | -29.3% |
| Construction (FZ) | 10,233 | 5,462 | 6,410 | 17.4% | -37.4% | 6,491 | 14.1% | -31.4% |
| Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (G) | 10,389 | 5,978 | 6,560 | 9.7% | -36.9% | 6,756 | 10.1% | -30.4% |
| Transportation and storage (H) | 1,966 | 1,090 | 1,286 | 18.0% | -34.6% | 1,372 | 23.8% | -24.7% |
| Accommodation and food service activities (I) | 6,258 | 3,505 | 3,225 | -8.0% | -48.5% | 3,391 | -3.3% | -41.8% |
| Information and communication (JZ) | 1,253 | 827 | 928 | 12.2% | -25.9% | 936 | 11.3% | -21.5% |
| Financial and insurance activities (KZ) | 999 | 667 | 700 | 4.9% | -29.9% | 723 | 8.9% | -25.5% |
| Real estate activities (LZ) | 1,475 | 1,182 | 1,235 | 4.5% | -16.3% | 1,202 | -2.5% | -13.3% |
| Advisory & Business support activities (MN) | 5,382 | 3,583 | 3,829 | 6.9% | -28.9% | 3,924 | 6.5% | -21.7% |
| Education, human health and social work services, Arts, entertainment and recreation, Other service activities (P to S) | 4,510 | 2,906 | 2,841 | -2.2% | -37.0% | 2,889 | -2.2% | -32.4% |
| All firms (b) | 47,105 | 28,073 | 30,163 | 7.4% | -36.0% | 30,915 | 7.4% | -29.8% |
Source: Banque de France - database: Fiben. Data available in early May 2022: final for March, provisional for April.
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 and two years ago
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 past 12 months compared to the same aggregate one year and two years ago
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) (gross data) | ||||||||
| Mar. 20 | Mar. 21 | Mar. 22 | Mar. 22/Mar. 21 | Mar. 22/Mar. 20 | Apr. 22 prov. | Apr. 22/Apr. 21 | Mar. 22/Mar. 20 | |
| Size | ||||||||
| SME, among them | 47,079 | 28,021 | 30,141 | 7.6% | -36.0% | 30,895 | 7.6% | -29.8% |
| Micro-enterprises and unknown firm's size | 44,780 | 26,432 | 28,366 | 7.3% | -36.7% | 29,053 | 7.1% | -30.5% |
| Very small firms | 1,395 | 927 | 1,156 | 24.7% | -17.1% | 1,193 | 26.6% | -10.2% |
| Small firms | 652 | 465 | 467 | 0.4% | -28.4% | 479 | 3.5% | -26.0% |
| Medium-size firms | 252 | 197 | 152 | -22.8% | -39.7% | 170 | -10.1% | -29.2% |
| ISE - Large Firms | 26 | 52 | 22 | -57.7% | -15.4% | 20 | -59.2% | -33.3% |
| All firms | 47,105 | 28,073 | 30,163 | 7.4% | -36.0% | 30,915 | 7.4% | -29.8% |
Source: Banque de France - database: Fiben. Data available in early May 2022: final for March, provisional for April.
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 and two years ago.
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 and two years ago.
C - Changes in corporate bankruptcies![]()
1 - Number of bankruptcies
Cumulated over previous 12 months
From Dec. 1991 to March 2022 (+ April 2022 provisional)
Cumulated over previous 12 months
From Dec. 1991 to March 2022 (+ April 2022 provisional)
2 - Change in number of bankruptcies
Annual year-on-year change
From Dec. 1991 to March 2022 (+ April 2022 provisional)
(in %)
Annual year-on-year change
From Dec. 1991 to March 2022 (+ April 2022 provisional)
(in %)
3 - Monthly number of bankruptcies
From Jan. 2019 to March 2022 (+ April 2022 provisional)
From Jan. 2019 to March 2022 (+ April 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 March 2022 (+ April 2022 provisional)
(in %)
Cumulated over previous 12 months
From Dec. 2006 to March 2022 (+ April 2022 provisional)
(in %)
Source: Banque de France - database: Fiben. Data available in early May 2022: final for March, provisional for April.
Download the PDF version of the document
DEF_ENT_2253_en__SI_defaillances_202204_EN.pdf