Business failures - France 2023Jan
Published on the 15th of February 2023
At the end of January, the number of corporate bankruptcies continues to normalize, though not reaching pre-COVID levels.
- Initiated in Fall 2021, the rise in the number of corporate bankruptcies continues. Over one year (between February 2022 and January 2023), it reaches 42,640 against 28,124 a year earlier (see Figure 1, as well as Tables A and B).
- The number of annual corporate bankruptcies remains 17% lower than that the level recorded in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic (51,145 corporate bankruptcies took place during the year 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.
- In an instantaneous view, the number of monthly bankruptcies also remains lower in January 2023 than in January 2019 (see chart 3).
- The process of normalization is common to all sectors of the economy (see Figure 2) and slightly more pronounced for SMEs, except for micro enterprises (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 | Dec. 22 | Dec. 22/Dec. 21 | Dec. 22/2019 | Jan. 22 | Jan. 23 prov. | Jan. 23/Jan. 22 | Jan. 23/2019 | |
| Business sector | ||||||||
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing (AZ) | 1,414 | 1,183 | 10.4% | -16.3% | 1,062 | 1,164 | 9.6% | -17.7% |
| Industry (BE) | 3,436 | 3,005 | 64.9% | -12.5% | 1,857 | 3,155 | 69.9% | -8.2% |
| Construction (FZ) | 11,089 | 8,375 | 38.3% | -24.5% | 6,100 | 8,639 | 41.6% | -22.1% |
| Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (G) | 11,136 | 9,152 | 54.7% | -17.8% | 6,086 | 9,465 | 55.5% | -15.0% |
| Transportation and storage (H) | 2,097 | 1,744 | 47.8% | -16.8% | 1,221 | 1,790 | 46.6% | -14.6% |
| Accommodation and food service activities (I) | 6,840 | 5,380 | 106.1% | -21.3% | 2,734 | 5,686 | 108.0% | -16.9% |
| Information and communication (JZ) | 1,277 | 1,184 | 40.3% | -7.3% | 875 | 1,226 | 40.1% | -4.0% |
| Financial and insurance activities (KZ) | 1,086 | 976 | 56.9% | -10.1% | 646 | 999 | 54.6% | -8.0% |
| Real estate activities (LZ) | 1,631 | 1,359 | 11.2% | -16.7% | 1,229 | 1,374 | 11.8% | -15.8% |
| Advisory & Business support activities (MN) | 5,813 | 4,799 | 31.8% | -17.4% | 3,682 | 4,908 | 33.3% | -15.6% |
| Education, human health and social work services, Arts, entertainment and recreation, Other service activities (P to S) | 5,140 | 4,013 | 57.2% | -21.9% | 2,566 | 4,154 | 61.9% | -19.2% |
| All firms (b) | 51,145 | 41,249 | 49.4% | -19.3% | 28,124 | 42,640 | 51.6% | -16.6% |
Source: Banque de France - database: Fiben. Data available in early February 2023: final for December 2022, provisional for January 2023.
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 | Dec. 22 | Dec. 22/Dec. 21 | Dec. 22/2019 | Jan. 22 | Jan. 23 prov. | Jan. 23/Jan. 22 | Jan. 23/2019 | |
| Size | ||||||||
| SME, among them | 51,119 | 41,219 | 49.4% | -19.4% | 28,099 | 42,609 | 51.6% | -16.6% |
| Micro-enterprises and unknown firm's size | 48,733 | 38,317 | 46.9% | -21.4% | 26,541 | 39,583 | 49.1% | -18.8% |
| Very small firms | 1,487 | 1,814 | 96.3% | 22.0% | 966 | 1,882 | 94.8% | 26.6% |
| Small firms | 654 | 815 | 95.0% | 24.6% | 435 | 858 | 97.2% | 31.2% |
| Medium-size firms | 245 | 273 | 79.6% | 11.4% | 157 | 286 | 82.2% | 16.7% |
| ISE - Large Firms | 26 | 30 | 25.0% | 15.4% | 25 | 31 | 24.0% | 19.2% |
| All firms | 51,145 | 41,249 | 49.4% | -19.3% | 28,124 | 42,640 | 51.6% | -16.6% |
Source: Banque de France - database: Fiben. Data available in early February 2023: final for December 2022, provisional for January 2023.
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 December 2022 (+ January 2023 provisional)
Cumulated over previous 12 months
From Dec. 1991 to December 2022 (+ January 2023 provisional)
2 - Number of bankruptcies by sector
Cumulated over previous 12 months
From Dec. 2015 to December 2022 (+ January 2023 provisional)
Cumulated over previous 12 months
From Dec. 2015 to December 2022 (+ January 2023 provisional)
3 - Monthly number of bankruptcies
From Jan. 2019 to December 2022 (+ January 2023 provisional)
From Jan. 2019 to December 2022 (+ January 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 December 2022 (+ January 2023 provisional)
(in %)
Cumulated over previous 12 months
From Dec. 2006 to December 2022 (+ January 2023 provisional)
(in %)
Source: Banque de France - database: Fiben. Data available in early February 2023 final for December 2022, provisional for January 2023.
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Updated on the 14th of February 2023