The number of bankruptcies in German companies reached a record high in the first quarter of this year.

According to the German newspaper "Handelsblatt" website reported on April 9, in the first quarter of this year, the number of bankruptcies among German companies has reached the highest level in over 20 years. According to the Leibniz Institute for Economic Research, in the first quarter, a total of 4573 partnerships and joint-stock companies in Germany filed for bankruptcy. Data from the Federal Statistical Office show that the last time the number of bankruptcies exceeded this level was in the third quarter of 2005, when 4771 partnerships and joint-stock companies went bankrupt. The Leibniz Institute for Economic Research reported that this number of bankruptcies exceeded the level during the 2009 financial crisis. The report stated that in March, the number of corporate bankruptcies unexpectedly increased significantly, up 71% from the average in March from 2016 to 2019. According to the report, last month, the number of bankruptcies in industries such as construction and retail reached a record high; from a regional perspective, the states of Bavaria, Baden-Wrttemberg, and North Rhine-Westphalia had the highest number of bankruptcies.