Business failures - France 2020Mar
Published on the 14th of May 2020
In February 2020, the number of corporate bankruptcies decreased by 10.0% year-on-year
- At the end of February 2020, the aggregate number of corporate bankruptcies over the last 12 months amounted to 48,927, down by 10.0% compared to February 2019 (see tables A and B and charts 1 and 2). This significant fall is partly due to a base effect linked in particular to the number of corporate bankruptcies recorded in the first two months of 2020, a period prior to the measures taken in response to the pandemic.
Corporate bankruptcies decreased in all business sectors
- At the end of February 2020, the industry sector, the education, human health and other service activities, the accommodation and food service activities, the agriculture sector and the construction sector recorded the strongest decreases in bankruptcies (-16.4%, -15.3%, -11.9%, -11.2% and -9.5% respectively, compared to February 2019). Bankruptcies also decreased significantly in the advisory and business support activities (-8.8%), the real estate activities ( -8.3%), the wholesale and retail trade sector (-7.5%) and the financial and insurance activities (-6.5%).
In February 2020, bankruptcies decreased for most firm sizes
- Bankruptcies decreased for SMEs as a whole ( -10.0%) despite an increase for medium-sized firms (+1.2%). They also decreased for Intermediate-sized enterprises (ISEs) and large firms (-2 bankruptcies over 12 months see table B).
The outstanding loan amount of firms filing for bankruptcy over the past 12 months accounts, at the end of February, for less than 0.4% of the total outstanding loan amount reported to the Banque de France's Central Credit Register.
The provisional data for March will not be discussed (tables A and B and chart 2). These figures do not reflect the economic reality but the fact that commercial courts were closed in the second half of the month and the temporary measures regarding the examination of insolvency situations. They will have to be analyzed later on, in the light of the results of the forthcoming publications.
The provisional data for March will not be discussed (tables A and B and chart 2). These figures do not reflect the economic reality but the fact that commercial courts were closed in the second half of the month and the temporary measures regarding the examination of insolvency situations. They will have to be analyzed later on, in the light of the results of the forthcoming publications.
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. 19 | Feb. 20 | Feb. 20/Feb. 19 | Mar. 20 prov. | Mar. 20/Mar. 19 | Feb. 20 | Dec. 19 | Jan. 20 | Feb. 20 | |
| Business sector | |||||||||
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing (AZ) | 1,432 | 1,271 | -11.2% | 1,176 | -17.9% | -23.2% | 121 | 74 | 53 |
| Industry (BE) | 3,913 | 3,273 | -16.4% | 3,155 | -17.8% | -11.1% | 266 | 240 | 227 |
| Construction (FZ) | 11,789 | 10,666 | -9.5% | 10,167 | -13.5% | -13.0% | 868 | 768 | 710 |
| Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (G) | 11,625 | 10,750 | -7.5% | 10,326 | -10.4% | -11.6% | 884 | 767 | 828 |
| Transportation and storage (H) | 2,088 | 2,055 | -1.6% | 1,967 | -6.1% | -10.7% | 178 | 159 | 157 |
| Accommodation and food service activities (I) | 7,369 | 6,495 | -11.9% | 6,213 | -15.0% | -7.5% | 538 | 450 | 499 |
| Information and communication (JZ) | 1,297 | 1,292 | -0.4% | 1,243 | -3.1% | -2.6% | 104 | 102 | 118 |
| Financial and insurance activities (KZ) | 1,109 | 1,037 | -6.5% | 998 | -11.1% | -14.7% | 88 | 57 | 81 |
| Real estate activities (LZ) | 1,657 | 1,519 | -8.3% | 1,431 | -13.0% | -22.0% | 129 | 86 | 79 |
| Advisory & Business support activities (MN) | 6,171 | 5,629 | -8.8% | 5,336 | -14.8% | -8.9% | 463 | 396 | 423 |
| Education, human health and social work services, Arts, entertainment and recreation, Other service activities (P to S) | 5,477 | 4,638 | -15.3% | 4,348 | -20.5% | -22.2% | 383 | 277 | 237 |
| All firms (d) | 54,337 | 48,927 | -10.0% | 46,649 | -13.8% | -12.5% | 3,989 | 3,433 | 3,455 |
Source: Banque de France - database: Fiben. Data available at end-April 2020: final for February, provisional for March.
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
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 data) | Quarter to quarter sa/wda (bc) | Monthly data sa / wda (c) | |||||||
| Feb. 19 | Feb. 20 | Feb. 20/Feb. 19 | Mar 20 prov. | Mar 20/Mar 19 | Feb. 20 | Dec. 19 | Jan. 20 | Feb.20 | |
| Size | |||||||||
| SME, among them | 54,302 | 48,894 | -10.0% | 46,615 | -13.8% | -12.5% | 3,986 | 3,431 | 3,455 |
| Micro-enterprises and unknown firm's size | 51,365 | 46,181 | -10.1% | 43,982 | -14.0% | -12.8% | 3,773 | 3,226 | 3,241 |
| Very small firms | 1,763 | 1,594 | -9.6% | 1,553 | -11.9% | -4.5% | 137 | 123 | 126 |
| Small firms | 847 | 788 | -7.0% | 755 | -11.4% | 4.4% | 60 | 62 | 75 |
| Medium-size firms | 327 | 331 | 1.2% | 325 | 2.5% | -20.0% | 21 | 23 | 22 |
| ISE - Large Firms | 35 | 33 | -5.7% | 34 | -2.9% | ||||
| All firms | 54,337 | 48,927 | -10.0% | 46,649 | -13.8% | -12.5% | 3,989 | 3,433 | 3,455 |
Source: Banque de France - database: Fiben. Data available at end-April 2020: final for February, provisional for March.
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
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 Dec. 1991 to February 2020
Aggregate number of bankruptcies over the past 12 months
From Dec. 1991 to February 2020
2 - Change in bankruptcies
Year-on-year change in the 12-month aggregate
From Dec. 1991 to February 2020 (+March 2020 provisional)
(in %)
Year-on-year change in the 12-month aggregate
From Dec. 1991 to February 2020 (+March 2020 provisional)
(in %)
3 - Loan amounts of bankrupt non-Financial firms over loan amount
of all firmsAggregate over the past 12 months
From Dec. 2006 to February 2020 (+ March 2020 provisional)
(in %)
of all firmsAggregate over the past 12 months
From Dec. 2006 to February 2020 (+ March 2020 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 2020 (+ March 2020 provisional)
(in %)
Aggregate over the past 12 months
From Dec. 2006 to February 2020 (+ March 2020 provisional)
(in %)
Source: Banque de France, Companies Directorate, Data available at end-April 2020: final for February, provisional for March.
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Updated on the 14th of May 2020