The number of bankruptcies in the Netherlands is declining

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics (Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek - CBS), the number of bankruptcies in the Netherlands has been decreasing over the past ten years. Even the corona crisis has not affected this trend. Nothing has changed this year either: the number of bankruptcies declared in the first half of 2022 is more than 2% lower than in the first half of 2021.

Bankruptcy statistics

Bankruptcy statistics in the Netherlands have been kept since 1981. Data on CBS website updated every month - on the 12th of the current month, a new table with information for the previous month is added. The table contains the number of bankruptcies declared by the courts in the Netherlands, broken down by type of bankrupt (individuals, sole traders, companies and institutions).

Decreasing trend in bankruptcies

In general, the number of bankruptcies fluctuates throughout each year, with ups and downs following each other. The number of bankruptcies reached its peak in May 2013, when the courts declared 911 entities bankrupt.

Since then, the number of bankruptcies has declined and continues to decline. As we noted in article, even the corona crisis was overcome by the Netherlands without a jump in bankruptcies. The bankruptcy rate reached a record low in August 2021. In 2022, this trend continues: in particular, 24 fewer companies were declared bankrupt in June than in May.

Number of bankruptcies of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs

When hovering over the curve: month, year, inscription "number of bankruptcies" and numbers

Bankruptcy in the Netherlands

A court declares a legal or natural person bankrupt. The assets and income of the insolvent entity are used to pay off debts. Bankruptcy may be declared at the request of the creditor, the debtor himself or the prosecutor's office. After the distribution of income and assets between creditors, the bankruptcy procedure is terminated, but the debtor is often not completely released from debts - the residual debt is payable. A legal entity may be declared bankrupt at the request of a creditor only if there is a debt to another creditor.

Which industry has the most bankruptcies?

Among the bankrupts, most of all are trade enterprises, and more specifically, enterprises of the transport and storage sector. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that trade as a whole is the most numerous sector of the economy in the Netherlands in terms of the number of business entities.