The number of bankruptcy declarations in the European Union fell by 0.7% in the fourth quarter of the year, compared to the previous quarter.
According to data from Eurostat, bankruptcy declarations declined in most sectors in the fourth quarter, although education and social activities (+17.7%) and industry (+1.6%) both reported an increase.
The biggest declines in bankruptcy declarations across the bloc were seen in the information and communication sector (-25.6%), accommodation and food services (-12.2%) and transportation and storage (-10.1%), the data showed.
Country by country
On a country-by-country basis, the biggest increases in bankruptcy declarations were seen in Cyprus (+399.3%), Bulgaria (+24.5%) and Slovenia (+15.4%) – as the absolute numbers of bankruptcies are very low, this can make the indices very volatile, as is the case for Cyprus.
The biggest decreases in bankruptcies, meanwhile, were recorded in Poland (-17.3%), Greece (-16.6%) and Romania (-12.1%)
New business registrations
While bankruptcies fell, the number of new business registrations increased, by 2.6%, on a quarter-on-quarter basis.
All sectors of the economy saw an increase in new business registrations, with the highest growth recorded in the transportation and storage sector, where registrations rose by 5.7%.
Industry saw a 3.5% increase in new business registrations, while the information and communication sector saw a rise of 2.3%. The construction sector recorded a 0.9% growth in business registrations.
‘In Q4 2024, seasonally adjusted registrations of businesses increased by 2.6% in the EU, compared with Q3 2024, and thus reaching the highest level since Q1 2018,’ Eurostat noted. Read more here.
