According to the latest count from Luxembourg’s Ministry of Justice and STATEC, 232 companies were declared bankrupt and 94 were liquidated during the fourth quarter of 2023.
Bankruptcies
In 2023, 935 bankruptcies were declared, which corresponds to a decrease of 7% compared to 2022 (1006 bankruptcies). This seemingly positive development must, however, be qualified, because the drop in the number of bankruptcies comes from companies without salaried employment (down 14%) and from holding companies and investment funds (down 26%). Compared to 2022, the number of bankruptcies of companies with salaried employment (>0) is up by almost 11%, and that of companies having employed more than ten employees at the time of their bankruptcy has even exploded (up 39%).
At the level of the different branches of activity, contrasting developments were present. In the real estate sector (up 41%), that of construction (up 36%) and in the specialised, scientific and technical services (up 21%) there was an increase in the number of bankruptcies in 2023. Regarding other sectors, the number of bankruptcies was decreasing: down 8% for commerce, down 9% for Horeca (Hotel/Restaurant/Catering) and more for other activities which are already structurally less affected by bankruptcies.
The 2,713 losses of salaried employment positions caused by bankruptcies in 2023 was a sharp increase compared to 2022 (up 39%), even if this is still provisional data since the data concerning salaried employment is not complete for the last quarter of 2023. The branches which were most affected by the disappearance of salaried employment positions in 2023 were construction, Horeca and commerce (with respectively 43%, 15% and 12% of total losses).
In 2023, the highest number of declared bankruptcies occurred in holding companies and investment funds (193), followed by commerce companies (178) and construction companies (162) in absolute figures.
Liquidations
Luxembourg courts ordered the liquidation of 527 companies in 2023, a drop of more than 37% compared to 2022 (840). A notable decline in the number of judicial liquidations was observed from the second quarter of 2023, according to STATEC and Luxembourg’s Ministry of Justice. Consistent with past trends, the majority of companies undergoing liquidation in 2023 were holding companies and investment funds, accounting for 59% of the total.
These topics can be consulted in the STATEC “Bankruptcies and Liquidations” dashboard, published on Wednesday 17 January 2024. Bankruptcy statistics are based on the record of judicial decisions, taken from the Commercial Register and dating from Monday 15 January 2024 for most recent data.
The number of bankruptcies is calculated as the sum of “openings” or “reopenings”, after the deduction of reported bankruptcies, coming from the legal procedure “judgments and declaratory orders of bankruptcy”. These figures are provisional.
