The number of bankruptcies increased in 2023 in most countries, the trend may continue - D&B

22 May 2024

The number of corporate bankruptcies in the world's major economies rose for the second year in a row in 2023 amid high interest rates, the withdrawal of post-Covid support measures, inflationary pressures and faltering demand, Dun & Bradstreet said in an annual study.

The number of businesses declared insolvent has increased in more than half of the 45 countries for which Dun & Bradstreet analyzes data annually. At the same time, in 14 countries, including the USA, France, Great Britain, Canada, Poland, the 2023 indicator exceeded the pre-pandemic level.

In the USA, the number of bankruptcies increased over the year by 79% and reached a 10-year record, in Canada - by 70%, Poland - by 56%, India and the Netherlands - by 53%, Ukraine - by 48%.

At the same time, in 10 countries, on the contrary, a decrease in bankruptcies by more than 10% was recorded - in particular, in Croatia (35%), Belarus (29%), Italy (23%), Turkey (19%), Russia (18). %).

On average, across all countries, the number of failed businesses increased in 2022-2023. on average by 12% per year - versus about 5% in 2020-2021, when government support measures were in effect in most economies. During the pandemic, despite the freezing of entire sectors of the economy, the number of bankruptcies was lower than the level of 2018-2019.

Experts at Dun & Bradstreet, whose global database covers almost 600 million companies, point to the risk of a further increase in the number of bankruptcies this year due to geopolitical risks, expensive loans, inflationary pressure, and rising costs.

In Russia, the number of corporate bankruptcies has been declining over the past two years, which was facilitated, in particular, by the moratorium on creditors filing bankruptcy petitions for debtors in 2022. In the first quarter of 2024, an increase in this indicator was recorded.