German company bankruptcies hit the highest level since 2013
Germany's Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) reports that local courts registered 12,812 corporate insolvency filings in the first half of 2026. That is 6.7% more than a year earlier and the highest first-half figure since 2013, when there were 13,253 cases. The data was published on 11 September.June alone looked worrying: 2,266 bankruptcies, or 15.8% more than in June 2025.
Fig. 1. Corporate insolvency filings in the first half of the year. Source: Destatis.
More cases, less debt
Here it gets more interesting. Total creditor claims actually fell, from 28.2 billion euros in the first half of 2025 to 18.5 billion euros in 2026. Destatis explains this by the fact that a year earlier more large companies went bust, while the current wave is made up mostly of smaller firms.- 12,812 filings in H1 2026 versus 12,009 in 2025;
- creditor claims: 18.5 billion euros versus 28.2 billion;
- frequency: 36.2 insolvencies per 10,000 companies.
ℹ INFO
More companies are leaving the market, but the average bankrupt firm is much smaller. For creditors that means many small losses instead of a couple of large write-offs.
Where it hurts most
The heaviest load falls on transport and logistics - 71.6 cases per 10,000 companies - on hospitality (59.6) and on construction (53.4). All three sit far above the economy-wide average.Fig. 2. Insolvencies per 10,000 companies in the first half of 2026. Source: Destatis.
An independent estimate from credit agency Creditreform is slightly higher, at about 12,900 filings (+7.8%), but it also calls this the highest level since 2013. By its count, large firms were hit hardest (+28.6%) and about 165,000 jobs were put at risk. Creditreform's head of economic research, Patrik-Ludwig Hantzsch, links the rise to stagnation, high costs and expensive loans after the ECB's rate-hike cycle.
⚠ IMPORTANT
No turnaround is expected yet: the peak is seen as still ahead, and stabilization looks unlikely before 2027. Note Destatis's methodology too - filings enter the statistics roughly three months after they are made, so part of the June reading reflects earlier events.