An application form to open bankruptcy proceedings
Quelle: dpa/Fernando Gutierrez-Juarez
The number of personal bankruptcies is rising again for the first time in years. This year, the economic consequences of the pandemic in particular are likely to put many people in financial distress, warns the Crif credit agency.
Dhe number of private bankruptcies in Germany has risen again for the first time in ten years and has almost doubled in 2021. This development is particularly pronounced in parts of the north. According to data from the credit agency Crif, there were 109,031 personal bankruptcies nationwide, 93.6 percent more than in 2020. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (plus 132.2 percent) and Hamburg (plus 135 percent), the increase is well above average. Schleswig-Holstein (plus 87.9 percent) is slightly below average in terms of the increase in the number of insolvencies.
If you look at the frequency of private bankruptcies in relation to the number of inhabitants, all three federal states in the north rank well above the national average. According to the Crif figures, there were 163 personal bankruptcies per 100,000 inhabitants in Schleswig-Holstein, 170 in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and 172 in Hamburg. The nationwide comparative figure is 131.
Crif Managing Director Frank Schlein attributes the generally strong increase primarily to a change in the law, which many of those affected would have been waiting for. In his estimation, the economic consequences of the pandemic in particular will cause many consumers trouble this year. Crif therefore believes that up to 110,000 private bankruptcies are possible nationwide.
According to Crif, the fact that insolvency is more common among private individuals in the north could be related to the labor market. “The main reason for personal bankruptcy is unemployment,” said Schlein. “Therefore, a connection can also be derived between unemployment and the north-south divide in private insolvencies.”
Many people who would have suffered a loss of income due to unemployment or short-time work would have tried to hold out with their own reserves or privately borrowed money. “The financial reserves of many of those affected have been used up. Added to this are the constantly rising rental and energy prices,” said Schlein. “Therefore, we are assuming that the number of private bankruptcies will remain high in 2022.”
According to him, a change in the law played a particularly important role last year, according to which consumers can be released from their remaining debts more easily after three years instead of the previous six. “Those affected wanted to use the announced reduction in the duration of the procedure from six to three years and therefore only submitted the application in 2021,” explained Schlein.
According to the information, the economic consequences of the corona pandemic also left their first traces. Many employees and self-employed people who lost their jobs in whole or in part during the pandemic eventually ran out of financial cushions. Without government aid packages worth billions, there would probably have been even more private bankruptcies, the credit agency suspects.