Business insolvencies continued to increase in July and are now approaching all categories combined to their level of 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic, according to figures published Thursday by the Banque de France. In total, these failures concerned over the last 12 months ending in July 49,863 companies, compared to 51,145 in 2019.
But by category, only microenterprises have a level of insolvencies that remains lower than before the health crisis, with 45,853 companies in liquidation or receivership compared to 48,702 in 2019. For SMEs and VSEs, this level is far exceeded : 2,443 very small businesses with fewer than 10 employees have gone bankrupt in the last 12 months compared to 1,527 in 2019, while those with between 10 and 49 employees are 1,147, compared to 651 the year before the crisis.
The category of medium-sized companies between 50 and 249 employees has 364, compared to 238 in 2019. Finally, mid-sized companies and large groups record 56 failures, compared to 53 before the crisis. By sector, the increase in insolvencies culminates in accommodation and catering with an increase of 69.7% compared to July 2022, these activities having been particularly protected by government aid during the health crisis due to the closure measures including they had been the object.
But the rebound in insolvencies is also very strong in industry with an increase of 52.7%, even though the government has made the reindustrialization of France a priority. The rise in insolvencies, which concerns all sectors, remains low in agriculture, forestry and fishing, which had not seen a sharp drop in their number during the health crisis.