For the first time in months, the number of companies that went bust is up again from a year earlier.
The month of May breaks the downward trend in the number of bankruptcies we saw in the first four months of the year. The increase of a whopping +37% over last year brings the number of companies that went bankrupt to 627. This is the highest number since June 2010. This is according to research on bankruptcies in Dutch business by Dun & Bradstreet.
The increase in May is all the more striking because in recent years, this very month had a relatively low number of bankruptcies. Fewer companies went bankrupt in both May 2010 and May 2009.
Sectors
In all sectors, the number of bankruptcies increased compared to May 2010. The strongest increase took place in transport (+63%) and trade & repair (+49%). In the sectors Hospitality (+14%) and Construction (+19%) the increase remained relatively limited.
Regions
Only one province saw a decrease in the number of bankruptcies compared to last year, namely Groningen (-12%). In Limburg, the increase was minimal at +3%. In all other regions, more businesses went bankrupt than in May 2010. Notable outliers were Friesland with +89% and Utrecht with +78%. Noord-Brabant and Drenthe also faced significant challenges, with increases exceeding 50%. Relative to the total number of businesses in the region, the province of Drenthe had the highest number of bankruptcies in May. Below is an overview of the developments by province.
Groningen -12%
Limburg + 3%
Overijssel +18%
Flevoland +22%
Noord-Holland +29%
Zeeland +40%
Zuid-Holland +42%
Gelderland +46%
Noord-Brabant +56%
Drenthe +58%
Utrecht +78%
Friesland +89%