New statistic from Enento Group and Experian shows that the bankruptcies within all Nordic countries are decreasing in Q3, compared with the same period last year. In Denmark, the bankruptcies are decreasing with 20 percent, in Norway with 29 percent, in Finland with 19 percent and in Sweden with 25 percent. However, there are some local differences, especially when it comes to the situation in the different industry segments.
Enento Group and Experian has summarized the bankruptcies in Q3 for Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden and compared the data with the same period last year. Overall, it seems like Q3 was better than expected for the Nordic business climate with a decreasing amount of bankruptcies in the Nordics.
Local differences, especially within industry segments are common
Within the segment “Construction”, the bankruptcies within Q3 is decreasing in Norway (-26%), Finland (-38%) and Sweden (-19%) but increasing in Denmark (+2%) for instance. Another difference is the development in the segment “Transport and storage”, where the bankruptcies are decreasing in Denmark (-15%), Norway (-25%) and Finland (-30 %), but is increasing quite heavily in Sweden with 43 percent in Q3, compared with the same period last year.
– Overall, the bankruptcy situation in the Nordics is much better than what we might have expected earlier this year. The Transport segment have been under pressure in Sweden for quite some time, and it’s especially the smaller taxi companies that are suffering hard due to the decreasement in the way we travel. In Finland, our key finding is that bankruptcy application as a sign of growing risk is now stronger than ever. The amount of applications is significantly decreasing but on 2020 more than 80 % of the applications have led to the actual bankruptcy. This likelihood has been much smaller, says Jukka Ruuska, CEO of Enento Group, where the local brands Asiakastieto in Finland and UC in Sweden is part of.
– One segment that is going quite well in Q3 is the construction industry, where smaller businesses have gotten more to do, since many people have been working from home and have chosen to renovate at the same time. This is a segment we believe to grow during the upcoming period, ends Jukka Ruuska.
– We do not believe in a wave of bankruptcies this year. There will be a gradual increase, but due to the measures from the governments, that have already been put in place, the bankruptcies may come somewhat later. We will probably get a gradual increase into 2021. The companies that are thriving, have found new channels and new revenue streams, and viable companies have received measures that enable them to cope, but still there will probably be gradually increased bankruptcy figures across specific industry segments, comments Frode Berg, Experian Nordics Managing Director.
– In Denmark and Norway, the service segments “Accommodation, food service and hotels´ are still the segments that are hardest hit, but on a positive note, in Norway, this segment has had fewer bankruptcies compared to the corresponding quarter in 2019. In Denmark, the segments “Wholesale and Retail” along with “Information and communication” seem to be doing slightly better than last year. For both Denmark and Norway, the government help packages are still active to some extent, and specifically for Denmark there are still approximately 4.000 businesses that have not submitted their annual report, thereby missing the deadline for submitting and we can expect an unknown amount, to be defaulted as bankrupt, but time will tell, and we may or may not see an impact, ends Frode Berg.
About the data:
The data presented in this press release is stating bankruptcies in Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden during the period of July, August and September in 2020, compared with the same period in 2019. Public administration and defense have been excluded.
| Country/Difference | July | Aug | Sept |
| Denmark | -26% | -24% | -9% |
| Finland | -27% | -28% | -5% |
| Norway | -26% | -40% | -21% |
| Sweden | -5% | -30% | -39% |
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
