BERLIN (Anadolu) - The wave of bankruptcies in Germany continues at a historically high level and shows no signs of abating so far.
 According to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), German local courts registered a total of 2,276 corporate insolvency filings in April 2026. This represents a 7.1% increase compared with the same month last year. For the first quarter as a whole, the year-over-year increase was 6.5 percent.
While politicians talk about the need to promote economic growth, hundreds of businesses are disappearing from the market every day. For many entrepreneurs, the burden of costs, competitive pressure, and labor shortages has simply become too great.
What’s particularly alarming is that it’s no longer just struggling businesses that are affected. According to the credit reporting agency Creditreform, even companies with good or at least average creditworthiness are now being forced to shut down.
“The crisis is now eating its way through the entire economy,” warns Creditreform spokesperson Patrick-Ludwig Hantzsch.
While the bankruptcies of large corporations regularly make headlines, thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises often disappear from the market almost unnoticed.
Experts identify several causes for this dramatic trend. Companies are simultaneously grappling with rapid technological change, growing competitive pressure, and the ongoing shortage of skilled workers.
Added to this is a problem that has been escalating for years. Many company executives are retiring but cannot find a successor. “Nearly a third of all voluntary closures are now due to retirement,” said Sandra Gottschalk, a researcher at the Leibniz Center for European Economic Research (ZEW) in Mannheim.
Surprisingly, at 13%, only a comparatively small proportion of companies actually filed for bankruptcy in 2025. The vast majority of businesses voluntarily ceased operations.
Traditional economic sectors, in particular, are losing more and more companies as this affects manufacturing, construction and hospitality with respectively 11,000 (+10%), 24,000 (+12%) and 15,000 closures (+15%).
While policymakers debate economic growth, hundreds of businesses are disappearing from the market every day. For many entrepreneurs, the burden of costs, competitive pressure, and labor shortages has simply become too great.
One insolvency expert, Hans Joachim-Berner, warned of a major insolvency crisis.
“I almost see this as an all-encompassing crisis,” the insolvency administrator said in an interview with media outlet Table.Briefings.
“Everyone is suffering from the difficult market environment, high energy prices, inflation—which is leading to consumer reluctance—and interest rates that have taken a turn,” Berner added.
He pointed out that small businesses are facing increasing problems. He noted that in the past, he had virtually no cases from this sector on his desk.
There isn’t a single trigger for the current wave of insolvencies.