New bankruptcy statistics from Enento Group and Experian:
New statistic from Enento Group and Experian shows that the bankruptcies in all Nordic countries surprisingly are decreasing when summarizing the year of 2020. The largest decrease of bankruptcies is found in Denmark, where the figures show that the bankruptcies has decreased with -34 % compared with 2019. The trend follows in all Nordic countries, with a decrease in bankruptcies of -6 % in Finland, -18 % in Norway and -3 % in Sweden.
Enento Group and Experian have analyzed and summarized the bankruptcies for all of re 2020 for Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden and compared the data from 2019. Although the beginning of the year started with increasing amount of bankruptcies due to the pandemic situation in the world, the year 2020 ends on the more positive side of things.The pandemic struck the world with an unexpected pace in 2020 and our expectations were that it would have had a large impact on businesses and corporations around the globe. However, the corona effect on bankruptcies didn’t last very long, and when looking at the total figures of 2020, the business climate in the Nordics is strong and solid. The governmental support for companies, patience of debtors and some law changes have been supporting the situation in the Nordics better than expected, comments Jukka Ruuska, CEO of Enento Group, the Nordic owner of the local brands Asiakastieto in Finland and UC in Sweden.
- The bankruptcies have yet to make their appearance across the Nordics, since it is still too early to see the full impact of the lockdown across society and businesses, and due to the different help packages given by the different governments. But on a positive note, specifically for Denmark, we have seen a rise of new companies, in the last quarter of 2020, demonstrating that out of crisis, also comes innovation and resilience, comments Bo Rasmussen, Experian Nordics Chief Customer Officer.
Construction industry is doing well in the Nordics, larger differences within Food and Accommodations and Transport
A segment that has been coping well within the Nordics during this special year is the construction industry. The bankruptcies within the segment has decreased with -15 % in Denmark, – 8 % in Finland, – 25 % in Norway and increased with 3 % in Sweden.
In other larger industry segments, such as Food and Accommodations as well as Transport, there are some differences between our countries. Overall, the country that stands out is Sweden, with quite high increasements for both these segments in 2020. The bankruptcies within Food and Accommodations increased with 36 % in Sweden for 2020 compared with 2019 and the bankruptcies in the segment Transportation increased with 27 % compared with 2019.
In Denmark, the bankruptcies within Food and Accommodations decreases with – 21 % for 2020 and with – 39 % for the segment Transportation. In Finland, bankruptcies within the Food and Accommodation segment doesn’t decrease nor increase at all compared with 2019. The transportation segment is decreasing with – 8 %. In Norway, the bankruptcies within Food and Accommodations doesn’t decrease nor increase in 2020 compared with 2019, but bankruptcies within the transportation segment decreases with – 16 %.
- The variations in how well different business segment have coped during 2020 might depend a lot on the local guidelines and restrictions from authorities. Sweden is the only country with no shutdowns and where malls, restaurants and bars have been open throughout the entire year. We know that the Food and Accommodations segments have been hit hard by the pandemic situation, and those that early on could re-organizes and offer home deliveries will hopefully not be as affected for the upcoming months of 2021, says Jukka Ruuska, CEO of Enento Group, the Nordic owner of the local brands Asiakastieto in Finland and UC in Sweden.
- The business segments where we see a rise in bankruptcies, which is not surprising, is in the Food and Accommodations segment and Agriculture and Fishing. The Food and Accommodations segment in Denmark and Norway have followed different guidelines, set out by the different governments. But in Norway, in late Q4 2020, when the government banned the sales of alcohol in restaurants, most chose to close down, whereas restaurants in Denmark were fully closed down since December 17th, and to date will remain closed until the lockdown is no longer, says Bo Rasmussen, Experian Nordics Chief Customer Officer.
About the data:
The data presented in this press release is stating bankruptcies in Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden during 2020, compared with 2019. Public administration and defense have been excluded.
| Country/ Difference | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | June | July | Aug | Sept | Oct | Nov | Dec | Tot |
| Denmark | -22 % | -10 % | -75 % | -49 % | -15 % | -1 % | -26 % | -24 % | -9 % | -51 % | -49 % | -9 % | -34 % |
| Finland | 12 % | 16 % | 24 % | 36 % | -10 % | -2 % | -27 % | -28% | -5 % | -25 % | -13 % | -44 % | -6 % |
| Norway | 5 % | 2 % | -26 % | -36 % | – 27% | -17 % | -26 % | -40 % | -21 % | -21 % | -6 % | -4 % | -18 % |
| Sweden | 4 % | 4 % | 18 % | 31 % | % | -6 % | -4 % | -4 % | -35 % | -35 % | -2 % | 16 % | -3% |
For questions to the data per local market, please contact:
- Norway and Denmark:
Rie Lindgren, Experian Nordic Marketing Manager, +45 60 43 41 44 and e-mail: rie.lindgren@experian.com - Sweden:
Johanna Westin, Nordic PR- and Communications Manager, +46 76 525 01 16 and
e-mail: Johanna.westin@uc.se - Finland: Ville Kauppi, Content Manager Finland, +358 405 148 183 and e-mail: ville.kauppi@asiakastieto.fi
