Business failures - France - 2025-08

Published on the 3rd of October 2025

statistics
At the end of August, the cumulative number of corporate bankruptcies over 12 months remains stable
  • At the end of August 2025, the cumulative number of corporate bankruptcies over the last twelve months remained stable at 67,413 (see graph 1), a level comparable to that of July (67,608, revised data ). This observation is common to most company sizes and sectors (see tables A and B).

  • The number of corporate bankruptcies among intermediate-sized enterprises (ISEs) and large companies also remains stable but above its pre-pandemic average.

  • Over the same period, the corporate population is growing; according to INSEE, more than 1.1 million enterprises were created at the end of August 2025 over a sliding 12-month period, up 0.6% compared with the cumulative 12 months to the end of August 2024.

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 July 25 July 25/July 24 July 25/2010-2019 Aug. 24 Aug. 25 Aug. 25/Aug. 24 Aug. 25/2010-2019
Business sector
Agriculture, forestry and fishing (AZ) 1,359 1,581 11.2% 16.3% 1,429 1,575 10.2% 15.9%
Industry (BE) 4,442 4,295 2.4% -3.3% 4,179 4,305 3.0% -3.1%
Construction (FZ) 14,684 14,717 4.7% 0.2% 14,021 14,723 5.0% 0.3%
Wholesale and retail trade repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (G) 13,071 13,717 1.3% 4.9% 13,524 13,701 1.3% 4.8%
Transportation and storage (H) 1,901 3,126 12.4% 64.4% 2,772 3,143 13.4% 65.3%
Accommodation and food service activities (I) 7,374 9,084 8.3% 23.2% 8,347 9,061 8.6% 22.9%
Information and communication (JZ) 1,480 2,091 11.3% 41.3% 1,876 2,076 10.7% 40.3%
Financial and insurance activities (KZ) 1,150 1,620 0.1% 40.9% 1,620 1,604 -1.0% 39.5%
Real estate activities (LZ) 1,984 2,545 3.0% 28.3% 2,473 2,537 2.6% 27.9%
Advisory & Business support activities (MN) 6,379 8,299 11.1% 30.1% 7,439 8,342 12.1% 30.8%
Education, human health and social work services, Arts, entertainment and recreation, Other service activities (P to S) 5,311 6,420 11.5% 20.9% 5,705 6,432 12.7% 21.1%
All firms (b) 59,342 67,608 6.2% 13.9% 63,469 67,613 6.5% 13.9%
Source: Banque de France - database: Fiben. Data available at the beginning of October 2025.
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.
b The line « All firms » includes legal units whose business sector is not known.


1 As a reminder, the data is revised on a monthly basis, with judgement records that August be communicated at a later date.

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 July 25 July 25/July 24 July 25/2010-2019 Aug. 24 Aug. 25 Aug. 25/Aug. 24 Aug. 25/2010-2019
Size
SME, among them 59,309 67,551 6.2% 13.9% 63,404 67,556 6.5% 13.9%
Micro-enterprises and unknown firm's size 56,058 61,934 5.8% 10.5% 58,334 61,959 6.2% 10.5%
Very small firms 2,012 3,544 11.1% 76.1% 3,184 3,526 10.7% 75.2%
Small firms 910 1,550 8.9% 70.3% 1,424 1,556 9.3% 71.0%
Medium-size firms 329 523 15.5% 59.0% 462 515 11.5% 56.5%
ISE - Large Firms 33 57 -10.9% 72.7% 65 57 -12.3% 72.7%
All firms 59,342 67,608 6.2% 13.9% 63,469 67,613 6.5% 13.9%
Source: Banque de France - database: Fiben. Data available at the beginning of October 2025.
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 2025
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 2025
(in %)




3 - Monthly number of bankruptcies
Mean 2010-2019 and from Jan. 2020 to August 2025
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 2025
(in %)
Note: the sharp rise in the weighting of outstanding loans in the Very small businesses category between April 2024 and March 2025 reversed in April 2025 due to the removal of a legal unit bankrupted in April 2024, and classified in this category due to a low number of employees. 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. Since September 2024, 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 at the beginning of October 2025.
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Corporate bankruptcies

STAT INFO - August 2025

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Updated on the 3rd of October 2025