The number of business failures in France rose slightly year-on-year to 64,650 at the end of October, compared with 64,191 at the end of September, the Banque de France reported on Friday. Compared with the twelve months to the end of October 2023, the number of insolvencies is up sharply, by 21%, after +24% at the end of September on an annual basis.

This is a “catching up after the sharp slowdown in insolvencies during the Covid period “ in 2020 and 2021, according to the Banque de France. There had been very few defaults during the health crisis and just afterwards, due to the large amounts of aid received by companies. However, compared with the average for the 2010-2019 period, insolvencies were up 8.9% at the end of October.

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SMEs: 21% rise in insolvencies

The sectors most affected by insolvencies are real estate (+40.4% year-on-year), transport and warehousing (+40.0%) and finance and insurance (+30.9%). The least affected are industry (+9.2%) and education, health, social work and household services (+9.2%).

By company size, insolvencies among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) jumped by 21% year-on-year to 64,587, mainly microenterprises or companies of indeterminate size (59,318). Insolvencies by intermediate-sized companies (ETIs) and large corporations rose by 8.6%, to 63. The Banque de France also points out that “credit mediation has not recorded an increase in the number of referrals over the recent period”..