Dutch Company and Institutional Bankruptcies Rise to 260 in August

Bankruptcies among Dutch companies and institutions rose to 260 in August 2026 on an unadjusted basis, according to new figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS). The raw count was 41 higher than the 219 recorded in July and 37 above the 223 reported in August 2025.

CBS also publishes a headline bankruptcy series adjusted for the number of court session days in each month, so the 260 figure is not directly comparable with that measure. On the adjusted basis, 274 companies and institutions were declared bankrupt in August. Adding 30 sole proprietorships brought the adjusted total for businesses to 304.

In its September 11 bankruptcy release, CBS said the adjusted business total was 24 higher than a year earlier and 38 higher than in July. The bankruptcy rate rose to 8.1 per 100,000 businesses, compared with 7.6 in August 2025.

Raw company bankruptcies rebounded from July

Across the unadjusted monthly series, the number of company and institutional bankruptcies has moved sharply from one month to the next. The count stood at 223 in January, 258 in February and 303 in March before easing to 251 in April and 233 in May. It then climbed to 298 in June, fell to 219 in July and rose to 260 in August.

Those figures put August above the same month a year ago but below some of the higher readings seen earlier in 2026. They also show why the raw count and the adjusted series should not be treated as interchangeable. The unadjusted data describe the bankruptcy orders recorded in the calendar month. The adjusted data are intended to improve comparisons across months with different court calendars.

CBS notes that Dutch bankruptcies are generally pronounced on fixed days of the week, often Tuesday. A month can therefore contain four or five court session days, which can affect the number of rulings that appear in a monthly total. After correcting for that effect, the company-and-institution count was 274 in August, up from 229 in July and 237 in August 2025.

For the all-business total, the difference is also visible. On an unadjusted basis, August recorded 260 bankruptcies among companies and institutions and 28 among sole proprietorships, for a total of 288 across those categories. After the court-day adjustment, the corresponding figures were 274 and 30, or 304 in total. The adjusted figure is the one CBS used for its 9 percent year-over-year headline comparison. CBS classifies the latest two months in the raw series as provisional.

Bankruptcy rate increased, but remains below 2024 levels

At 8.1 per 100,000 businesses, the adjusted bankruptcy rate was higher than both July’s 7.1 and the 7.6 recorded in August 2025. It was still below the 9.1 rate reported in August 2024, putting the latest increase below the level seen two years earlier.

Across the longer series, CBS said the bankruptcy rate peaked at 24.8 per 100,000 businesses in March 2015, then declined steadily to a record low of 3.4 in August 2021. The rate subsequently rose again through 2024. Since the autumn of 2024, the overall trend has been slightly downward even though individual months, including August 2026, have moved higher.

A higher reading than last year therefore does not mean the bankruptcy rate has returned to its earlier peaks. The August 2026 rate exceeded the year-earlier level by 0.5 bankruptcies per 100,000 businesses, but it remained one full bankruptcy per 100,000 below August 2024. That wider comparison helps separate the latest monthly increase from the longer movement in the series.

Hospitality posted the highest sector bankruptcy rate

Sector data, which CBS does not adjust for court session days, showed the highest August bankruptcy rate in accommodation and food services at 21.0 per 100,000 businesses. Manufacturing followed at 20.1, while construction recorded 16.5 and renting and other business services stood at 15.8.

Looking at raw industry counts, trade and financial services each recorded 38 company and institutional bankruptcies in August, followed by construction with 36 and specialised business services with 35. Those counts measure the number of bankruptcy rulings, while sector rates compare failures with the size of each industry’s business population, so the two rankings do not have to match.

Year-over-year sector rates were mixed. Accommodation and food services remained the highest-rate category, but its rate fell from 30.8 a year earlier. Trade also declined, from 17.6 to 10.6, and transportation and storage fell from 16.8 to 11.8. Real estate activities dropped from 6.4 to 1.2 per 100,000 businesses.

Other sectors moved in the opposite direction. Construction rose from 10.7 to 16.5 per 100,000 businesses, while renting and other business services increased from 7.8 to 15.8. Information and communication rose from 6.9 to 11.7, and financial services increased from 6.2 to 8.4. The differences show that the national increase did not translate into higher bankruptcy rates across every industry.

CBS expects to publish September 2026 bankruptcy figures on October 12. That release will provide the next comparison after August’s rebound in both the unadjusted company-and-institution count and the court-day-adjusted business series.