Germany records highest company insolvencies since financial crisis

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany recorded the highest number of company insolvencies since 2009 in the last quarter of last year, a study from the Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) showed on Thursday, reflecting high interest rates and increased prices.

The fourth quarter of 2024 saw 4,215 company insolvencies with almost 38,000 jobs affected, according to the study, a level unseen since the financial crisis in mid-2009.

Compared with the fourth quarter of 2023, the number of insolvencies at the end of last year rose by 36%, as calculated by IWH.

The institute attributes the negative development only partly to the current economic crisis and increases in the cost of energy and wages.

"Years of extremely low interest rates have prevented insolvencies, and during the pandemic, insolvencies have failed to materialize due to subsidies such as short-time work benefits," said Steffen Mueller, head of insolvencies research at IWH.

The rise in interest rates and the elimination of subsidies have triggered catch-up effects in insolvencies from 2022, Mueller said.

Across sectors, the highest growth in insolvencies was in the services sector, growing by 47% year-on-year, compared with 32% in the manufacturing sector.

(Reporting by Rene Wagner, writing by Maria Martinez, editing by Miranda Murray)