Business failures - France 2023Dec
Published on 5 January 2024
The number of corporate bankruptcies rose in 2023, but remained below its pre-pandemic average
- In 2023, the number of corporate bankruptcies rose to reach 55,492 (see Figure 1).
- This figure reflects a catch-up trend that concerns all sectors of the economy however heterogeneously (see Table A). This is also true for all firm sizes (see Table B). The growth in corporate bankruptcies continues to slow (see Figure 2).
- The number of annual corporate bankruptcies remains significantly lower than the average level recorded over the 2010-2019 period (59,342), 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) | ||||||||
| Avg. 2010-2019 | Nov. 23 | Nov. 23/Nov. 22 | Nov. 23/2010-2019 | Dec. 22 | Dec. 23 prov. | Dec. 23/Dec. 22 | Dec. 23/2010-2019 | |
| Business sector | ||||||||
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing (AZ) | 1,359 | 1,218 | 2.4% | -10.4% | 1,208 | 1,192 | -1.3% | -12.3% |
| Industry (BE) | 4,442 | 3,886 | 35.1% | -12.5% | 3,000 | 3,906 | 30.2% | -12.1% |
| Construction (FZ) | 14,684 | 11,392 | 39.6% | -22.4% | 8,404 | 11,660 | 38.7% | -20.6% |
| Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (G) | 13,070 | 11,796 | 31.0% | -9.7% | 9,162 | 11,985 | 30.8% | -8.3% |
| Transportation and storage (H) | 1,901 | 2,185 | 29.1% | 14.9% | 1,741 | 2,264 | 30.0% | 19.1% |
| Accommodation and food service activities (I) | 7,374 | 7,654 | 49.8% | 3.8% | 5,370 | 7,766 | 44.6% | 5.3% |
| Information and communication (JZ) | 1,480 | 1,673 | 45.6% | 13.0% | 1,179 | 1,702 | 44.4% | 15.0% |
| Financial and insurance activities (KZ) | 1,150 | 1,286 | 35.4% | 11.8% | 974 | 1,324 | 35.9% | 15.1% |
| Real estate activities (LZ) | 1,984 | 1,847 | 36.4% | -6.9% | 1,358 | 1,906 | 40.4% | -3.9% |
| Advisory & Business support activities (MN) | 6,379 | 6,360 | 33.6% | -0.3% | 4,784 | 6,441 | 34.6% | 1.0% |
| Education, human health and social work services, Arts, entertainment and recreation, Other service activities (P to S) | 5,311 | 5,272 | 33.1% | -0.7% | 4,038 | 5,273 | 30.6% | -0.7% |
| All firms (b) | 59,342 | 54,650 | 35.6% | -7.9% | 41,297 | 55,492 | 34.4% | -6.5% |
Source: Banque de France - database: Fiben. Data available early January 2024: final for November 2023, provisional for December 2023.
Calculation: Banque de France - Companies Directorate - Companies Observatory.
Note: According to INSEE, the number of firms has risen by around 40% in 10 years.
a Aggregate number of corporate bankruptcies over previous 12 months compared to the same aggregate one year before, and with the 2010-2019 average (January 2010 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.
Note: According to INSEE, the number of firms has risen by around 40% in 10 years.
a Aggregate number of corporate bankruptcies over previous 12 months compared to the same aggregate one year before, and with the 2010-2019 average (January 2010 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) | ||||||||
| Avg. 2010-2019 | Nov. 23 | Nov. 23/Nov. 22 | Nov. 23/2010-2019 | Dec. 22 | Dec. 23 prov. | Dec. 23/Dec. 22 | Dec. 23/2010-2019 | |
| Size | ||||||||
| SME, among them | 59,309 | 54,596 | 35.6% | -7.9% | 41,270 | 55,435 | 34.3% | -6.5% |
| Micro-enterprises and unknown firm's size | 56,054 | 50,199 | 33.7% | -10.4% | 38,441 | 50,938 | 32.5% | -9.1% |
| Very small firms | 2,011 | 2,726 | 59.4% | 35.6% | 1,781 | 2,778 | 56.0% | 38.1% |
| Small firms | 914 | 1,245 | 64.5% | 36.2% | 787 | 1,289 | 63.8% | 41.0% |
| Medium-size firms | 330 | 426 | 75.3% | 29.1% | 261 | 430 | 64.8% | 30.3% |
| ISE - Large Firms | 33 | 54 | 86.2% | 63.6% | 27 | 57 | 111.1% | 72.7% |
| All firms | 59,342 | 54,650 | 35.6% | -7.9% | 41,297 | 55,492 | 34.4% | -6.5% |
Source: Banque de France - database: Fiben. Data available early January 2024: final for November 2023, provisional for December 2023.
Calculation: Banque de France - Companies Directorate - Companies Observatory.
a Aggregate number of corporate bankruptcies over previous 12 months compared to the same aggregate one year before, and with the 2010-2019 average (January 2010 to December 2019).
Calculation: Banque de France - Companies Directorate - Companies Observatory.
a Aggregate number of corporate bankruptcies over previous 12 months compared to the same aggregate one year before, and with the 2010-2019 average (January 2010 to December 2019).
C - Changes in corporate bankruptcies![]()
1 - Number of bankruptcies
Cumulated over previous 12 months
From Dec. 1991 to November 2023 (+ December 2023 provisional)
Cumulated over previous 12 months
From Dec. 1991 to November 2023 (+ December 2023 provisional)
Note: The blue line represents the average value of the number of corporate bankruptcies over twelve months observed monthly between January 2010 and December 2019.
2 - Change in number of bankruptcies
Annual year-on-year change
From Dec. 1991 to November 2023 (+ December 2023 provisional) (in %)
Annual year-on-year change
From Dec. 1991 to November 2023 (+ December 2023 provisional) (in %)
3 - Monthly number of bankruptcies
From Jan. 2019 to November 2023 (+ December 2023 provisional)
From Jan. 2019 to November 2023 (+ December 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 November 2023 (+ December 2023 provisional)(in %)
Cumulated over previous 12 months
From Dec. 2006 to November 2023 (+ December 2023 provisional)(in %)
Source: Banque de France - database: Fiben. Data available early January 2024: final for November 2023, provisional for December 2023.
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