Adjusted for the number of court days, 278 companies were declared bankrupt in August, according to Statistics Netherlands (CBS). This is 54 fewer than in the same month last year, representing a 16 percent decrease. Compared with July, the number of bankruptcies declined by 7 percent.
adjusted for court days
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Retail bankruptcies rise slightly
In the retail sector, 25 companies went bankrupt in August, five more than the previous month, according to Statistics Netherlands (CBS). The number of 25 bankrupt retailers is exactly the same as in the same month last year. For the entire year of 2025 so far, there have been significantly fewer bankruptcies in the retail sector (203) compared with the same period in 2024 (246).
Bankruptcy rate continues to decline
The bankruptcy rate is the number of bankruptcies per 100,000 companies. This measure provides a more accurate picture of the development of bankruptcies in the Netherlands and allows for better comparisons between sectors.
In August, the bankruptcy rate was 7.5 bankruptcies per 100,000 companies. A year earlier, this figure was 9.1, indicating a further decrease in bankruptcies relative to the total number of companies.
Since the start of measurements in 2015, the bankruptcy rate reached its highest point in March of that year, with 24.8 bankruptcies per 100,000 companies. After that, the rate declined, reaching a low point in August 2021, when the number of bankruptcies fell to a historically low level of 3.4.
Following this decline, the bankruptcy rate gradually rose again until 2024, after which it stabilized. Since the fall of 2024, there has been a slight downward trend.
Bankruptcy rate highest in the hospitality sector
In August, after adjustment for court days, the hospitality sector had the highest relative number of bankruptcies. There were 30.8 bankruptcies per 100,000 hospitality businesses, compared with 25.6 a year earlier.
Source: CBS, retailtrends.nl
Photo: Shutterstock
