Fewer consumers insolvent: but more companies

The State Statistical Office in Saxony registered an opposing trend in insolvencies last year. The number of consumer insolvencies fell slightly, while the number of corporate insolvencies rose sharply. As the authority announced on Wednesday, a total of 2944 insolvency proceedings were reported for consumers in 2023. According to the state statistics office, this represents a decrease of 2.8 percent compared to the previous year. Four proceedings were dismissed due to lack of assets and seven proceedings were concluded with the adoption of a debt settlement plan.

In addition to the proceedings for consumers, the total of 4549 insolvencies of so-called other debtors also included proceedings for natural persons who worked as partners and the like or were previously self-employed. The claims filed by creditors against the "other debtors" amounted to 305 million euros, an average of 67,000 euros per procedure.

According to the State Statistical Office, 747 applications for the opening of insolvency proceedings for companies were filed with the Saxon district courts in the previous year. Here, the number rose by 142 proceedings or 23.5 percent. The claims filed by creditors amounted to 505.2 million euros, which corresponds to an average of a good 676,000 euros per case. Around 80 percent of the proceedings were opened, while almost 20 percent were rejected due to lack of assets. Most proceedings were in the construction, retail and motor vehicle sectors.