The Banque de France said on Wednesday that the number of business failures had fallen by nearly 40% in 2020 despite the crisis.

This is explained in particular by the modification of the rules for declaring insolvency and public support for businesses, however, the institution recalled.

The number of business failures fell by 39% in 2020 despite the crisis, due to the modification of the rules for reporting insolvency since the spring and public support for businesses, the Banque de France said on Wednesday.

In total, 31,212 failures were recorded at the end of December 2020, compared to 51,201 a year earlier.

However, according to the central bank, this sharp decrease in insolvencies "does not indicate a reduction in the number of companies in difficulty".

Support measures delay "the risk of default" on the payment of charges

Rather, it is the consequence both of "the modification" of the rules for declaring insolvency, with delays extended since the start of the health and economic crisis, but also of "all the support measures" put in place. place by the government to support the cash flow of companies in difficulty.

This aid "allows companies to reduce or delay the payment of certain charges, and therefore the risk of defaulting on these payments," explains the Banque de France.

VSEs / SMEs are doing better than large

The decline in insolvencies can be observed in all sectors of activity.

It is thus 38.7% in industry, 44.6% in construction, 38% in hotels and restaurants or 41.5% in transport and storage.

Also, small businesses are doing better than large ones.

The decrease in insolvencies is 26.1% for large SMEs (between 50 and 249 employees), 27.7% for small businesses, 34.3% for very small businesses (less than 10 employees).

Finally, among "micro-enterprises", which represent the bulk of the number of French companies, the number of insolvencies fell over one year by 39.5%.

Conversely, 48 mid-size companies (ETI) or large companies (GE) went bankrupt in 2020, against 33 a year earlier, an increase of 45.5%.