Bankruptcies
How many bankruptcies are there in Denmark and how is the trend? Here you can see the development in the number of bankruptcies in enterprises broken down by industry, geography, lifetime, turnover and employment. You can also see the development in the number of bankruptcies and petitions for liquidation on a weekly basis.
Explainer on…
Petitions for liquidation proceedings can be submitted by a debtor or a creditor when the debtor is insolvent. The petition is prior to the bankruptcy. There are no further information on the debtor.
An enterprise that meets a range of criteria for economic activity, such as full-time equivalents, turnover, goods purchases, imports, exports, value added, or balance sheet total. The enterprise's relationships with other enterprises, such as ownership or joint VAT settlement, may also be included. The precise criteria and thresholds vary between statistics and may depend on the purpose of the assessment.
Enterprises with a turnover < 1 mio. DKR in the four quarters prior to the bankruptcy and full time employment in the latest quarter = 0.
Selected statistics on Bankruptcies
Bankruptcies in active enterprises
The declared bankruptcies are delivered from the Danish Official Gazette (Statstidende) and the Statistical Business Register. The petitions for liquidation proceedings are delivered from the courts of bankruptcies. More information in Danish in Bekendtgørelse af konkursloven
Key figures for bankruptcies, actual and seasonally adjusted figures
| 2025M11 | 2025M12 | 2026M01 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bankruptcies, total (A+B+D) | 928.0 | 492.0 | 372.0 |
| Bankruptcies, total, seasonally adjusted | 555.1 | 498.8 | 479.3 |
| Total turnover in companies declared bankrupt (DKK million) (A3+B1) | 1,188.1 | 1,394.6 | 1,032.7 |
| Total employment in companies declared bankrupt (full-time employees) (A2) | 743.0 | 942.0 | 740.0 |
| Average lifespan for companies declared bankrupt (years) | 6.4 | 7.8 | 7.6 |
| A. Bankruptcies in companies with employees | 186.0 | 134.0 | 139.0 |
| A1. Bankruptcies in companies with employees, seasonally adjusted | 160.0 | 149.4 | 146.8 |
| A2. Bankruptcies in companies with employees (lost employment) | 743.0 | 942.0 | 740.0 |
| A3. Bankruptcies in companies with employees (turnover) | 928.2 | 1,308.7 | 963.3 |
| A4. Bankruptcies in companies with employees (lifespan) | 6.8 | 7.9 | 8.3 |
| B. Bankruptcies in companies with turnover above 1 mio. DKK, but without employees | 41.0 | 26.0 | 22.0 |
| B1. Bankruptcies in companies with turnover above 1 mio. DKK, but without employees (turnover) | 228.8 | 69.5 | 55.1 |
| B2. Bankruptcies in companies with turnover above 1 mio. DKK, but without employees (lifespan) | 5.8 | 9.2 | 5.9 |
| C. Bankruptcies in active companies (A+B) | 227.0 | 160.0 | 161.0 |
| C1. Bankruptcies in active companies, seasonally adjusted | 195.4 | 174.5 | 175.4 |
| C2. Bankruptcies in active companies (turnover, A3+B1) | 1,157.1 | 1,378.2 | 1,018.5 |
| C3. Bankruptcies in active companies (lifespan) | 6.6 | 8.1 | 7.9 |
| D. Bankruptcies in companies without employees and turnover less than 1 mio. DKK (inactive companies) | 701.0 | 332.0 | 211.0 |
| D1. Bankruptcies in companies without employees and turnover less than 1 mio. DKK (lifespan) | 6.3 | 7.6 | 7.4 |
The declared bankruptcies are delivered from the Danish Official Gazette (Statstidende) and the Statistical Business Register. The petitions for liquidation proceedings are delivered from the courts of bankruptcies. More information in Danish in Bekendtgørelse af konkursloven
Bankruptcies and petitions for liquidation
These statistics are categorized as 'experimental statistics'. In the documentation, it appears more precisely what lies in the experimental status of the statistics. For example, the methods may not be fully tested or new data sources may be used. Read about Statistics Denmark's work with experimental statistics.
Here you can see the development in the number of bankruptcies and petitions for liquidation on a weekly basis.
On the statistics – documentation, sources and method
See the documentation of statistics to learn more:
The purpose of these statistics on bankruptcies is to analyze trends in the number of bankruptcies as well as in selected characteristics of companies gone bankrupt. These trends are considered as an essential economic or short time indicators. Compilation of the statistics was established in January 1979 based on a 'simple count method'. In 2009 the method was changed to a registry-based method. Quarterly statistics on selected and aggregated NACE-sections are published from July 2021.
Data on petitions for liquidation proceedings are calculated on experimental basis as a high frequent (weekly) short time indicator. They cover the period since 2011.
The purpose of the Quarterly Business Demography is to form an overall and internationally comparable perspective of business development by the numbers of new enterprises and by the number of bankruptcies. The statistics are published for the first time in 2021.