The bankruptcies of companies in the EU have increased by 5.7% and reached the highest level since 2019.

New business registrations decreased by 0.5% in the second quarter of 2026, continuing the decline that began at the start of the year, while bankruptcy declarations increased by 5.7%. The industry saw the largest drop in new registrations, while education and social services experienced the strongest increase in bankruptcies.

Bankruptcy declarations of companies in the European Union increased by 5.7% in the second quarter of 2026 compared to the first three months of the year, reaching the highest level recorded since the first quarter of 2019, according to Eurostat data. During the same period, the number of new business registrations decreased by 0.5%, marking the second consecutive quarter of decline. Developments vary significantly between sectors and member states, and Eurostat warns that a bankruptcy declaration does not automatically mean the permanent closure of a business.

In brief

1. Bankruptcy declarations increased by 5.7% in the EU in the second quarter of 2026 and by 6.9% in the euro area, compared to the previous quarter. 2. New business registrations decreased by 0.5% in the EU and by 0.1% in the euro area, after already declining in the first quarter of the year. 3. The industry had the largest reduction in registrations, at 3.6%, followed by hotels and restaurants at 3.4%, and education and social services at 3.2%. 4. Bankruptcies increased the most in education and social services, by 21.1%, transport by 11.4%, and financial services by 6.8%. 5. Estonia, Greece, and Croatia had the largest quarterly increases in bankruptcy declarations among the countries for which data is available, while Ireland recorded the highest increase in new business registrations.

The seasonally adjusted number of bankruptcy declarations increased by 5.7% in the European Union in the second quarter of 2026, after a decrease of 2.4% in the first three months of the year. In the euro area, the quarterly increase was even higher, at 6.9%, following a decline of 2.3% in the first quarter. According to Eurostat's statistical series, the level of bankruptcies in the EU has thus reached its highest point since the beginning of 2019.

This development comes after a longer period of growth in bankruptcy declarations. Following the unusually low levels in the first part of the pandemic, when government measures helped many companies avoid insolvency procedures, the number of declarations has increased almost continuously from the last quarter of 2021 until the third quarter of 2025. Two moderate declines at the end of 2025 and the beginning of 2026 temporarily interrupted this trend, before the increase in the second quarter.

New business registrations have moved in the opposite direction. Their number decreased by 0.5% in the EU compared to the first quarter and by 0.1% in the euro area, after already decreasing by 0.9% in the EU and by 1.3% in the euro area in the first three months of 2026. Eurostat describes this development as a continuation of the downward trend observed since the beginning of the year, after registrations had reached high levels towards the end of 2025.

The reduction, however, is not uniform across the economy. In the second quarter, business registrations decreased in five of the eight major sectors analyzed by Eurostat, with the industry experiencing the strongest decline of 3.6%. Hotels and restaurants recorded a reduction of 3.4%, and education and social services a reduction of 3.2%, while technology and communications moved in the opposite direction, with an increase of 8.8%.

Construction also saw an increase in registrations, of 1%, while financial services remained virtually unchanged. Eurostat notes that the information and communications sector has been following a trend of increasing new registrations that began in the second quarter of 2025. Despite the overall decline in the first half of this year, the level of registrations remains above pre-pandemic levels in almost all sectors.

A significant difference, however, appears in industry, trade, and hotels and restaurants, where the number of registrations in the second quarter of 2026 was still below the level of the last quarter of 2019. In contrast, information and communications, transport, financial services, education and social services, and construction were above pre-pandemic levels. The data thus shows that the overall reduction in new registrations hides very different sectoral developments.

Bankruptcies also had an uneven distribution. Five of the eight sectors analyzed recorded increases in the second quarter, the largest being in education and social services, where declarations rose by 21.1%. Transport had an increase of 11.4%, and financial services of 6.8%, while hotels and restaurants recorded a decrease of 2.6%, construction of 1.7%, and trade of 1.2%.

In the longer term, the level of bankruptcy declarations in the second quarter of 2026 was above that of the last quarter of 2019 in all monitored sectors. This comparison must be interpreted in the context of the strong decline during the pandemic and the subsequent recovery, as public support provided to companies in 2020 temporarily reduced the number of bankruptcy procedures. Eurostat does not attribute the current increase to a single economic cause and does not determine, based on this data, how many of the involved companies will cease operations permanently.

The differences between member states are even greater. Luxembourg recorded the strongest quarterly reduction in new registrations, at 24.2%, followed by Lithuania at 12.4%, and Denmark at 8.2%. At the other end of the ranking, the number of registrations increased by 20.4% in Ireland, 8.2% in Belgium, and 7.6% in Sweden.

Regarding bankruptcies, Estonia had the highest increase among the countries for which Eurostat has data, at 31.8%, closely followed by Greece at 31.6%, and Croatia at 20.5%. The largest decreases were in Malta at 50%, Cyprus at 41.7%, and Slovakia at 33.5%. Eurostat warns, however, that percentages in small countries can be very volatile as the absolute number of bankruptcies is low, so a few additional cases or fewer can produce very large percentage variations.

The data must also be interpreted in light of how Eurostat defines the two indicators. Registering a business represents the entry of a legal unit into the relevant register and is considered an early indicator of the intention to start an economic activity. It does not automatically equate to the emergence of an active business, as a registered entity may not actually start producing, hiring, or generating revenue.

Similarly, a bankruptcy declaration represents the beginning of a legal procedure and should not be confused with the disappearance of a company. A business may continue to operate during the procedure and, depending on national legislation and the outcome of restructuring, may avoid closure. For this reason, Eurostat warns that quarterly statistics on bankruptcies cannot be directly compared with annual data on businesses that have actually ceased operations.

Comparisons between states should be treated with the same caution, as bankruptcy laws, legal forms covered, and administrative practices differ. Eurostat calculates European aggregates using national indices weighted by the number of active businesses and uses seasonal adjustment to allow comparisons between quarters. The current series is mandatory for member states starting in 2021, and earlier data comes partly from voluntary reports.

Quarterly data on registrations and bankruptcies are used as early indicators of business environment developments, as they appear more quickly than annual statistics on the birth and death of businesses. They allow tracking changes from one quarter to another but do not directly measure the number of companies that have started or actually ceased operations.

Eurostat published the data for the second quarter of 2026 on August 17. The next update of the quarterly series is scheduled for February 2027.

https://2eu.brussels/ro/news/falimentele-companiilor-din-ue-au-crescut-cu-57-si-au-ajuns-la-cel-mai-ridicat-nivel-din-2019