German corporate insolvencies fall in May for first time since February, year-to-date total still up 5%

May decline breaks monthly streak

German local courts registered 1,995 corporate insolvencies in May 2026, a 2.0% decrease compared with the same month a year earlier, the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden reported on Friday, August 14. The figure marks the first monthly decline since February, offering a tentative sign of relief after months of rising bankruptcies. The improvement was modest, however, set against a longer upward trend: across the first five months of 2026, corporate insolvencies climbed by 4.9% year-over-year to 10,546 cases. The statistical office noted that applications enter the statistics only after the insolvency court's first decision, meaning the actual filing date in many cases lies nearly three months earlier. This reporting lag means the May data partly reflects economic conditions from earlier in the year, and the next monthly figures may still show elevated levels.

Creditor claims fall as fewer large firms fail

Creditor claims from January through May totalled roughly €15.4 billion, a steep fall from €25.7 billion in the same period a year earlier. The decline does not reflect fewer filings overall but rather a shift in the size distribution of insolvent companies: in the prior-year period, more large enterprises went bankrupt, pushing claims higher. The €15.4 billion figure covers all corporate insolvency proceedings opened in the first five months of 2026, as recorded by local courts across Germany. With fewer large firms among the current year's cases, the average claim per insolvency has fallen, even as the total number of filings has risen by nearly 5%.

Transport, hospitality and construction bear the brunt

Measured per 10,000 companies, Germany recorded 29.8 corporate insolvencies from January to May. Transport and storage was the most affected sector, with 57.2 cases per 10,000 firms, nearly double the national average. Hospitality followed at 49.2 and construction at 44. All three sectors have been under sustained pressure from cost increases and weak demand during the prolonged economic slowdown that has gripped Germany. The overall rate of 29.8 insolvencies per 10,000 companies means that nearly three in every thousand German firms filed for bankruptcy in the first five months of 2026 alone.

No turnaround expected before 2027

Creditreform, a credit reporting agency, expects a trend reversal in insolvencies only in 2027. The Leibniz Institute for Economic Research Halle (IWH), which analyses insolvency trends monthly, reported an "exceptionally high level" of corporate bankruptcies in Germany for July. The German economy has been shaken by a wave of bankruptcies amid a prolonged economic stagnation, and neither Creditreform nor the IWH sees clear evidence of a sustained improvement in the coming months. The IWH's July assessment, coming after the May data was collected, suggests that the monthly decline may be a temporary reprieve rather than the start of a downward trend.

Consumer insolvencies also ease in May

Consumer insolvencies fell by 10.3% year-over-year in May to 5,926 cases, a sharper monthly decline than the 2.0% drop recorded in the corporate sector. Over the January-to-May period, however, personal bankruptcies rose by 1.9% to 32,093, continuing the same upward trend seen among businesses. The five-month total of roughly 32,100 consumer cases indicates that financial distress extends beyond firms to households across Germany, with both corporate and personal insolvencies running above prior-year levels despite the single-month improvement in May. The contrast between the May decline and the year-to-date increase mirrors the pattern in corporate insolvencies, where a single month of improvement has not yet reversed the broader upward trajectory.