The return to pre-Covid levels is accelerating. According to Altares, there were more than 12,250 company bankruptcies in the fourth quarter of 2022. In total, therefore, 42,500 bankruptcies were registered throughout the year. This represents a 49% jump in one year, unprecedented.
All companies, whatever their size, and not just the smallest ones, are now trapped in difficulties. In SMEs with fewer than 100 employees, the number of bankruptcies jumped 78% last year. Large groups are not spared from a hundred procedures either. In this context, the number of jobs affected has also skyrocketed. About 143,000 direct jobs are now threatened. That’s almost 50,000 more in a year.
Back to normal
If these figures may seem alarming, it is a simple return to normality. All the aids implemented during the Covid crisis have reduced the number of breakdowns. At the moment, we are still at a level below that of the pre-crisis period. 42,500 failures last year is 10,000 less than in 2019. However, this situation may not last.
In fact, the difficulties are likely to mount in 2023, between PGE rebates and rising energy prices. Other companies may find it difficult to cope with order books that are nonetheless well filled, given supply difficulties and labor shortages. In this context, Altares now expects around 55,000 breakdowns in 2023, that is, 3,000 more than before the Covid crisis.
Source: BFM TV
