Business failures - France 2022Dec
Published on the 5th of January 2023
In 2022, the number of corporate bankruptcies normalizes, though not reaching pre-COVID levels.
- Initiated in Fall 2021, the rise in the number of corporate bankruptcies continues. In 2022, it reaches 41,020 (see Tables A and B, as well as Figure 1).
- The number of annual corporate bankruptcies remains 20% lower than that the level recorded in 2019 (51,145 corporate bankruptcies took place during the year 2019). In an instantaneous view, the number of monthly bankruptcies also remains lower at the end of 2022 than the level reached at the end of 2019. 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.
- The process of normalization is common to all sectors of the economy (see Figure 2) and slightly more pronounced for SMEs, except for unknown firm's size (see Table B and Figure 4).
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 | Nov. 22 | Nov. 22/Nov. 21 | Nov. 22/2019 | Dec. 21 | Dec. 22 prov. | Déc. 22/Dec. 21 | Dec. 22/2019 | |
| Business sector | ||||||||
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing (AZ) | 1,414 | 1,167 | 8.6% | -17.5% | 1,066 | 1,142 | 7.1% | -19.2% |
| Industry (BE) | 3,436 | 2,881 | 58.6% | -16.2% | 1,822 | 2,994 | 64.3% | -12.9% |
| Construction (FZ) | 11,089 | 8,138 | 36.9% | -26.6% | 6,054 | 8,347 | 37.9% | -24.7% |
| Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (G) | 11,136 | 8,987 | 54.0% | -19.3% | 5,916 | 9,135 | 54.4% | -18.0% |
| Transportation and storage (H) | 2,097 | 1,693 | 44.9% | -19.3% | 1,179 | 1,740 | 47.6% | -17.0% |
| Accommodation and food service activities (I) | 6,840 | 5,119 | 95.1% | -25.2% | 2,610 | 5,369 | 105.7% | -21.5% |
| Information and communication (JZ) | 1,277 | 1,153 | 35.2% | -9.7% | 845 | 1,182 | 39.9% | -7.4% |
| Financial and insurance activities (KZ) | 1,086 | 953 | 55.0% | -12.2% | 622 | 974 | 56.6% | -10.3% |
| Real estate activities (LZ) | 1,631 | 1,341 | 10.9% | -17.8% | 1,213 | 1,323 | 9.1% | -18.9% |
| Advisory & Business support activities (MN) | 5,813 | 4,766 | 34.2% | -18.0% | 3,644 | 4,775 | 31.0% | -17.9% |
| Education, human health and social work services, Arts, entertainment and recreation, Other service activities (P to S) | 5,140 | 3,928 | 55.8% | -23.6% | 2,551 | 3,960 | 55.2% | -23.0% |
| All firms (b) | 51,145 | 40,207 | 47.4% | -21.4% | 27,592 | 41,020 | 48.7% | -19.8% |
Source: Banque de France - database: Fiben. Data available in early January 2023: final for November, provisional for December.
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 | Nov. 22 | Nov. 22/Nov. 21 | Nov. 22/2019 | Dec. 21 | Dec. 22 prov. | Déc. 22/Dec. 21 | Dec. 22/2019 | |
| Size | ||||||||
| SME, among them | 51,119 | 40,176 | 47.4% | -21.4% | 27,568 | 40,991 | 48.7% | -19.8% |
| Micro-enterprises and unknown firm's size | 48,692 | 37,387 | 45.3% | -23.2% | 26,062 | 38,092 | 46.2% | -21.8% |
| Very small firms | 1,513 | 1,747 | 85.5% | 15.5% | 928 | 1,817 | 95.8% | 20.1% |
| Small firms | 664 | 785 | 86.0% | 18.2% | 422 | 811 | 92.2% | 22.1% |
| Medium-size firms | 250 | 257 | 66.9% | 2.8% | 156 | 271 | 73.7% | 8.4% |
| ISE - Large Firms | 26 | 31 | 34.8% | 19.2% | 24 | 29 | 20.8% | 11.5% |
| All firms | 51,145 | 40,207 | 47.4% | -21.4% | 27,592 | 41,020 | 48.7% | -19.8% |
Source: Banque de France - database: Fiben. Data available in early January 2023: final for November, provisional for December.
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 November 2022 (+ December 2022 provisional)
Cumulated over previous 12 months
From Dec. 1991 to November 2022 (+ December 2022 provisional)
2 - Number of bankruptcies by sector
Cumulated over previous 12 months
From Dec. 2015 to November 2022 (+ December 2022 provisional)
Cumulated over previous 12 months
From Dec. 2015 to November 2022 (+ December 2022 provisional)
3 - Monthly number of bankruptcies
From Jan. 2019 to November 2022 (+ December 2022 provisional)
From Jan. 2019 to November 2022 (+ December 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 November 2022 (+ December 2022 provisional)
(in %)
Cumulated over previous 12 months
From Dec. 2006 to November 2022 (+ December 2022 provisional)
(in %)
Source: Banque de France - database: Fiben. Data available in early January 2023 final for November, provisional for December.
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Updated on the 4th of January 2023