Bankruptcy figures give cold sharp shock

A total of 305 bankruptcy petitions were filed in June.

The numbers of bankruptcies remain high. Statistics Finland says that 305 applications for bankruptcy were made in June, 53 applications more than the same month last year. Of the 305 businesses petitioned into bankruptcy, 245 were limited companies.

According to Statistics Finland data, 37 of the companies petitioned into bankruptcy were in industry, 40 were in retail and 51 were in construction.

Over half of the bankruptcy petitions were filed for service sector companies. In particular, the number of bankruptcy petitions for hospitality and restaurant businesses has been growing. In June, 39 businesses in this sector were petitioned into bankruptcy. The number is almost three times larger than in the same month last year.

The city with the most bankruptcy petitions filed was Helsinki (71). Vantaa came in second place in bankruptcy filings, with 19 petitions.

Small dip in statistics

Even though bankruptcies are still at a high level, one expert sees small silver linings.

“The growth in bankruptcy numbers was not as strong as in the previous year, but compared to the pre-pandemic year of 2019, the numbers are high. In January–May, over 600 more companies were petitioned into bankruptcy than in 2019,” Mira Kuussaari, Senior Statistician at Statistics Finland, said in June.

A specialist at Suomen Yrittäjät, the Finnish SME association, says external factors can make profitable businesses’ operations difficult, too.

“Bankruptcies are a part of the market economy, but where we have room for improvement in Finland is accepting failure,” Tiina Toivonen, Legislative Affairs Manager at Suomen Yrittäjät, commented in June when the May bankruptcy statistics were published.

Toivonen says Finland now needs the building blocks of growth.

“Finland’s growth is highly dependent on domestic consumption, but consumers’ confidence has long been subdued. Things like lower interest rates and higher wages are factors which are expected to encourage more consumption.”

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