Rotterdam, October 1, 2012 - The number of bankruptcies has risen again in the third quarter of 2012. In total, 23 percent more companies went bankrupt than in the same period last year.
Bankruptcy trendAll provinces faced more bankruptcies. The increase was least in South Holland and Zeeland. In the month of July, the number of bankruptcies rose by 57 percent compared to the same period last year, the highest increase in five years. This is evident from research into bankruptcies in the Dutch business sector by Dun & Bradstreet.
In total, 2,084 bankruptcies were filed in the third quarter, an increase of 23 percent compared to 2011. Twice as many companies in the utilities and agriculture sectors went bankrupt as in Q3 of 2011, closely followed by the transport, hospitality and construction sectors. Jan Willem de Vries, Managing Director of Dun & Bradstreet: "We have known for some time that the transport and construction sectors are in a bad way. Only when the real estate market recovers will we be able to see a decrease in insolvencies in the construction industry. In utilities, the increase may be due to the trend of price-fighters in this market. Many small companies are entering the utility sector, but cannot always hold their own among the large monopolists.'
Increase in bankruptcies in all provinces
In the provinces of Zuid Holland and Zeeland, the number of bankruptcies rose very slightly by +1 percent and +2 percent, respectively. In all other provinces, the number of companies going bankrupt increased by more than 10 percent compared to the same period last year. Drenthe (+99 percent), Friesland (+74 percent) and Overijssel (+73 percent) had the largest increase. Below is an overview of developments per province in the third quarter, compared with 2011:
1. Drenthe (+99 percent)
2. Friesland (+74 percent)
3. Overijssel (+73 percent)
4. Groningen (+43 percent)
5. North Holland (+26 percent)
6. Limburg (+24 percent)
7. Flevoland (+17 percent)
8. Gelderland (+16 percent)
9. North Brabant (+12 percent)
10. Utrecht (+10 percent)
11. Zeeland (+2 percent)
12. South Holland (+1 percent)
