Bankruptcies soar to record level in 2013
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- Bankruptcy rate 10 percent up
- Most bankruptcies registered in sectors trade and construction
Last year, 12,306 bankruptcies were filed; 10 percent more than in 2012. This is the highest number since bankruptcies were first tracked in 1951, but the increase was smaller in the latter half of 2013 than in the first half, as the latest figures released by Statistics Netherlands show.
The number of businesses (excluding one-man businesses) that went bankrupt last year rose by 12 percent to 8,275. The overall number of businesses (excluding one-man businesses) grew by 1 percent in the same period, but the number of one-man operated businesses going bust declined by 5 percent to 1,181, while the population increased by 5 percent. The number of personal bankruptcies rose by 9 percent to 2,850.
With 1,854, a 21 percent increase relative to 2012, most business bankruptcies (excluding one-man businesses) were registered in the sector trade. The construction sector was also hit hard in 2013; 1, 367 construction firms went bankrupt, i.e. 13 percent more than in 2012. The highest bankruptcy rate was recorded in the sector information and communication. Last year, 378 businesses were faced with bankruptcy, an increase by 50 percent from one year ago. In most sectors, the number of bankruptcies was higher in 2013 than in 2012. The only sectors where the number of bankruptcies declined marginally were manufacturing industry, financial services and transport and storage.