Germany is bracing for a continued surge in major insolvencies throughout 2025 and even 2026, according to a recent analysis by credit insurer Allianz Trade. Germany’s economy buckles into a full-blown bankruptcy crisis after a disastrous 2024, which saw a record-breaking number of bankruptcies in the country.
Allianz Trade forecasts an overall increase of 11 percent in corporate insolvencies in Germany this year, reaching approximately 24,400 cases. A further 3 percent rise to 25,050 cases is anticipated for 2026. These insolvencies put an estimated 210,000 jobs at risk across Germany.
In the first quarter of this year, 16 large German companies—those with revenues of €50 million or more—filed for insolvency. While this is a slight decrease of three cases compared to the same period last year, it’s double the number recorded in the first quarter of 2023.
Milo Bogaerts, CEO of Allianz Trade in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, expressed concern over the persistently high number of major insolvencies, attributing it partly to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff policy. He warned that no respite is expected, even after 2024, which was a record-breaking negative year for insolvencies.
“Given the bleak economic outlook both in Germany and in global trade, and the many uncertainties caused by the tariff storm, we expect many major insolvencies and thus significant losses to continue in 2025,” Bogaerts stated. He added that these large-scale insolvencies will likely have a ripple effect on supplier companies, potentially creating “particularly large holes in their coffers” and impacting supply chains.
However, alarm bells are ringing across the country. The Federal Association of German Industry (BDI) published a declaration by more than 100 associations at the beginning of April, where they directly addressed the ruling CDU and SPD. At the time, they were still working on a coalition agreement.
The BDI stated: “In the past few weeks, the economic situation has deteriorated dramatically. The facts are undeniable. Germany is in a serious economic crisis. A comparison with other countries shows that this crisis is primarily homemade.”
The BDI is also apparently unhappy with the coalition’s details on tax policy.
“In terms of tax policy, the coalition lags behind what is necessary. In the future, every scope must be used to relieve companies for the tax burden to quickly become internationally competitive,” said Tanja Gönner, BDI’s general manager. “The contract rightly formulates an ambitious modernization agenda for the state and administration, which must now also be followed by a determined implementation…. The bottom line is that we will measure the federal government by whether it will make the state more efficient and modernized.”
Sectors particularly affected include textile-related retail, the automotive supply industry, and healthcare. In the first quarter of 2025 alone, three German hospitals and three large textile companies filed for insolvency, alongside two automotive suppliers and two chemical companies.
In 2024, Germany saw a negative record of 87 major insolvencies, a 36 percent increase from the previous year. The combined turnover of these affected companies reached €17.4 billion, marking a 55 percent jump compared to 2023.
In an article for Tagesschau, reporters spoke to Jürgen Philippi, a publicly appointed auctioneer who also writes court reports for bankruptcy advisors. He has been working in the business for 30 years.
“There was a lot going on in the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent years. But now it’s worse. More and more industries are affected. I haven’t seen that yet,” said Philippi, who is so overburdened with bankruptcies that he has turned many clients away.
He also says there are fewer and fewer buyers willing to try and turn companies around.
“I am increasingly observing that managing directors do not want to continue their battered companies, although there are still market opportunities. Their reasoning? Taxes that are too high, too much bureaucracy,” said Philippi.
“‘I don’t want to do that anymore,’ I hear that more and more,” he added.
