In the first nine months of the year, 381 company insolvencies were recorded in Styria – a stable value compared to the same period last year (382), as the Alpine Creditors Association (AKV) shows in its current insolvency statistics. However, 2024 was a record bankruptcy year, so the new data does not mean an all-clear. On average, ten corporate bankruptcies were opened per week by the end of the third quarter this year. The company bankruptcies that were opened affected 1,286 employees (1st to 3rd quarters of 2024: 1,780). The total liabilities of the company bankruptcies that have been opened amount to 281.6 million euros. A small ray of hope: “At least Styria was spared from major insolvencies in the first 9 months of 2025,” says the AKV.
What, however, is “worrying” from the creditor protectors’ point of view: the number of cases dismissed due to a lack of assets has increased by 30.32 percent in the year to date, and 202 insolvency applications were rejected “because there were no assets to cover costs”. This clearly shows that “numerous companies’ liquidity reserves and assets have been used up.”
Three sectors in particular continue to be particularly badly affected: retail, the construction industry and the catering industry. 233 of the 381 insolvencies can be traced back to these three economic sectors. Specifically, there were 85 cases in the Styrian retail sector, 79 in the construction sector and 69 in the catering sector.
“Enormous price pressure, falling income”
In retail, the causes can be traced back to several factors, according to the insolvency experts at AKV. “The inflationary development led to a loss of purchasing power and increased fixed costs. The industry is exposed to strong competition, in particular the increase in international online trading leads to enormous price pressure and falling revenues.” In the construction sector, the weak economic situation has continued to be felt this year: “Of the 79 construction companies affected, insolvency proceedings were actually opened against the assets of 65. This sector had the highest liabilities at 48.4 million euros,” the AKV said. In the catering industry, which is also suffering from declining consumption, the bankruptcies up to and including the third quarter affected the most employees in an industry comparison, with 305 employees.
500 corporate bankruptcies opened by the end of the year
What does the rest of the year have in store? Franz Blantz, head of the insolvency department at AKV, expects “a consistent development until the end of the year” despite the slightly upwardly revised economic forecasts. With regard to the number of company bankruptcies that have been opened, Styria is also facing a third record year in a row. In Styria, the AKV assumes that there will be more than 500 corporate bankruptcies for the year as a whole. Including the insolvency dismissal decisions, almost 800 total insolvencies are expected in Styria by the end of 2025.
