The number of bankruptcies in Luxembourg fell from 650 to 511 in the first half of 2022. Compared to the previous year, this is a decrease of 139 bankruptcies or 21.38%. The number of companies with an age of more than 5 years that went bankrupt during this period decreased slightly to 73.97% compared to 2021 (77.69%), but is still dominant.  The share of bankruptcies of enterprises younger than five years is 26.03% in 2022 and has slightly increased compared to 2021 (share 22.31%). 
 
According to competent court districts, a lower number is reported in Luxembourg with 463 bankruptcies (previous year 583). In the judicial district of Diekirch, there is also a decrease with 48 proceedings in 2022 compared to 2021 (67). 
 
The defaults in the various sectors were also scrutinised by Creditreform. In the construction sector, 47 companies went bankrupt in the first half of 2022, a decrease of 28.36 % compared to the previous year (68). 
 
The front-runner continues to be the service sector with 356 cases in the first half of 2022 (445 in 2021). Here, the decline amounts to 20.00% compared to the previous year. 
In the manufacturing sector, there were 3 company bankruptcies in Luxembourg in 2022, as in 2021. 
 
Trade remains strongly represented with 105 business bankruptcies. However, compared to the previous year (134), the total number has decreased by 21.64%. The considerable number of "silent business failures" due to business closures, which do not appear in these statistics, should also be taken into account here. 
 
While the proportion of HoReCa businesses has increased from 66 to 77 in 2022, it is within the range of the 2019 figure, when 72 bankruptcies were recorded. The high number of company closures should be taken into account here as well.   In terms of the legal forms of companies, a decrease of 23.74% from 219 in 2021 to 167 bankruptcies in 2022 was recorded for public limited companies (S.A.).  The limited liability company (S.àr.l.), as the most frequently represented legal form, continues to have the largest single share of bankruptcies, with a decrease of 20.62% to 331 bankruptcies (417 in 2021).  The increase in the Sarl-S from 9 in 2019 to 27 in 2021 to 62 companies in the 1st half of 2022 is worrying. The susceptibility of this legal form to crises is very clear here. 
 
In the 1st half of 2022, mainly smaller companies went bankrupt. Among larger companies, only Aquinnotec in Freckeisen with 50 employees and Instaltec in the city with 44 employees are worth mentioning. Both from the construction sector. 
 
In the corporate sector, the government's decisive measures have saved many companies, at least for the time being. Companies with low margins or a low capital base are struggling. This is especially true for the Sarl-S and "zombie companies", i.e. companies that have only made losses for three years in a row. In order to avoid getting into trouble as a healthy company, or even having to file for bankruptcy itself, the motto is clearly: secure liquidity, minimise risks! 
 
In the longer term, Luxembourg will not be able to decouple itself from the internationally rising bankruptcy figures, even if the country has come through the crisis well so far due to government measures and structural advantages. Overall, Creditreform expects the number of insolvencies to rise sharply by winter 2022 at the latest.