Record number of Dutch bankruptcies in H1

In the first half year of 2013, a record number of companies and institutions went bankrupt in the Netherlands, with especially construction and trade affected, the Dutch Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) said on Thursday. In the first half of 2013, a total of 4,983 Dutch companies and institutions were declared bankrupt, which is 14 percent more than in the same period of 2012. The amount is the highest since the beginning of measuring bankruptcies by the CBS in 1981. For sole proprietorships the increase in the number of bankruptcies was limited to one percent, but for other companies and institutions the increase was 16 percent. The number of bankruptcies of companies in trade (1,040) and construction (985) was the highest. In trade, mainly the trade in clothing, construction materials and home furnishings stores were affected. In construction most bankruptcies were counted in the construction of residential and commercial buildings and painters, plumbers, glaziers and project developers. Compared to the first half of 2012 the number of bankruptcies rose in all provinces. The increase was the highest in the northern province of Groningen, with a growth of 69 percent.