Business failures - France - 2024-09
Published on the 10th of October 2024
At the end of September, the number of corporate bankruptcies over 12 months remains stable overall
- At the end of September, the provisional cumulative number of corporate bankruptcies aggregated over the last twelve months amounted to 63,741 compared with 63,280 the previous month (see graph 1).
- On an annual basis, the cumulative number of corporate bankruptcies over the last twelve months rose by 23.1% (see Table A), a trend visible in all sectors of the economy, after a sharp slowdown during the covid period (2020-2021).
- This rise in corporate bankruptcies is taking place against a backdrop of strong business creation in the wake of the covid crisis (according to INSEE, between the 2nd quarter of 2023 and the 2nd quarter of 2024, more than one million businesses, including micro-entrepreneurs, were created).
- The number of cases referred to the Médiation du crédit has not increased. At the same time, the public services and those of the Banque de France are mobilised to help companies in difficulty.
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) | ||||||||
| Mean 2010-2019 | Aug. 24 | Aug. 24/Aug. 23 | Aug. 24/2010-2019 | Sep. 23 | Sep. 24 prov. | Sep. 24/Sep. 23 | Sep. 24/2010-2019 | |
| Business sector | ||||||||
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing (AZ) | 1,359 | 1,418 | 14.4% | 4.3% | 1,256 | 1,393 | 10.9% | 2.5% |
| Industry (BE) | 4,442 | 4,180 | 12.4% | -5.9% | 3,787 | 4,159 | 9.8% | -6.4% |
| Construction (FZ) | 14,684 | 13,945 | 35.1% | -5.0% | 10,609 | 14,104 | 32.9% | -3.9% |
| Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (G) | 13,070 | 13,489 | 22.1% | 3.2% | 11,193 | 13,556 | 21.1% | 3.7% |
| Transportation and storage (H) | 1,901 | 2,763 | 36.0% | 45.3% | 2,042 | 2,827 | 38.4% | 48.7% |
| Accommodation and food service activities (I) | 7,374 | 8,333 | 17.8% | 13.0% | 7,186 | 8,429 | 17.3% | 14.3% |
| Information and communication (JZ) | 1,480 | 1,875 | 20.6% | 26.7% | 1,584 | 1,906 | 20.3% | 28.8% |
| Financial and insurance activities (KZ) | 1,150 | 1,623 | 37.1% | 41.1% | 1,227 | 1,633 | 33.1% | 42.0% |
| Real estate activities (LZ) | 1,984 | 2,488 | 47.5% | 25.4% | 1,710 | 2,516 | 47.1% | 26.8% |
| Advisory & Business support activities (MN) | 6,379 | 7,420 | 27.2% | 16.3% | 5,983 | 7,512 | 25.6% | 17.8% |
| Education, human health and social work services, Arts, entertainment and recreation, Other service activities (P to S) | 5,311 | 5,660 | 11.9% | 6.6% | 5,127 | 5,620 | 9.6% | 5.8% |
| All firms (b) | 59,342 | 63,280 | 24.5% | 6.6% | 51,778 | 63,741 | 23.1% | 7.4% |
Source: Banque de France - database: Fiben. Data available early October 2024: final for August, provisional for September.
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 mean.
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 mean.
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) | ||||||||
| Mean 2010-2019 | Aug. 24 | Aug. 24/Aug. 23 | Aug. 24/2010-2019 | Sep. 23 | Sep. 24 prov. | Sep. 24/Sep. 23 | Sep. 24/2010-2019 | |
| Size | ||||||||
| SME, among them | 59,309 | 63,218 | 24.5% | 6.6% | 51,725 | 63,678 | 23.1% | 7.4% |
| Micro-enterprises and unknown firm's size | 56,055 | 57,935 | 23.7% | 3.4% | 47,693 | 58,345 | 22.3% | 4.1% |
| Very small firms | 2,011 | 3,281 | 34.5% | 63.2% | 2,516 | 3,302 | 31.2% | 64.2% |
| Small firms | 913 | 1,496 | 34.7% | 63.9% | 1,133 | 1,514 | 33.6% | 65.8% |
| Medium-size firms | 330 | 506 | 37.9% | 53.3% | 383 | 517 | 35.0% | 56.7% |
| ISE - Large Firms | 33 | 62 | 12.7% | 87.9% | 53 | 63 | 18.9% | 90.9% |
| All firms | 59,342 | 63,280 | 24.5% | 6.6% | 51,778 | 63,741 | 23.1% | 7.4% |
Source: Banque de France - database: Fiben. Data available early October 2024: final for August, provisional for September.
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 mean.
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 mean.
C - Changes in corporate bankruptcies![]()
1 - Number of bankruptcies
Cumulated over previous 12 months
From Dec. 1991 to August 2024 (+ September 2024 provisional)
Cumulated over previous 12 months
From Dec. 1991 to August 2024 (+ September 2024 provisional)
Note: The orange 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 August 2024 (+ September 2024 provisional)
(in %)
Annual year-on-year change
From Dec. 1991 to August 2024 (+ September 2024 provisional)
(in %)
3 - Monthly number of bankruptcies
Mean 2010-2019 and From Jan. 2020 to August 2024 (+ September 2024 provisional)
Mean 2010-2019 and From Jan. 2020 to August 2024 (+ September 2024 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 August 2024 (+ September 2024 provisional)
(in %)
Cumulated over previous 12 months
From Dec. 2006 to August 2024 (+ September 2024 provisional)
(in %)
Note: the sharp rise in the weighting of outstanding loans in the Very small businesses category from April 2024 is due to a legal unit, classified in this category due to its small size. Without this legal unit, the weight of Very small businesses failures in terms of outstanding loans would be equal to 0.84%. For small businesses, the rise is due both to an increase in the number of bankruptcies and to an increase in the average loan outstanding. Over the month of July, it was further strengthened by the default of a small corporate with significant outstandings in this category.
Source: Banque de France - database: Fiben. Data available early October 2024: final for August, provisional for September.
Download the PDF version of the document
EN_Stat_Info_Corporate_Bankruptcies_202409.pdf
Updated on the 14th of October 2024