October 19, 2023
In the third quarter of 2023, the Netherlands witnessed twice as many business bankruptcies compared to the previous year, according to data from the chamber of commerce (KvK). While this figure remains below the long-term average, it signals the end of the recent decline in bankruptcy rates. It’s unclear whether the uptick in bankruptcies is linked to businesses struggling to repay government-issued pandemic loans.
Last month, the tax office initiated actions against 91,000 individuals who had fallen behind on their pandemic loan repayments, including 43,000 who hadn’t made any payments. Companies were granted a five-year period starting in October of the previous year to repay the funds borrowed to cover their expenses during the lockdown when business operations were severely affected.
During the third quarter of 2023, 832 companies went bankrupt, and 29,000 ceased their operations. In the same period the previous year, the KvK reported 441 bankruptcies. Meanwhile, the number of new business registrations was 64,000, marking a 3% decline compared to the previous year across all age groups, except for those over 60. According to Erik Stam, a professor of entrepreneurship at Utrecht University, the Dutch business sector maintains its vitality, with more new startups emerging despite the anticipated increase in bankruptcies, which remain below pre-coronavirus levels.
Source: Dutch News.nl
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