Barthélémy Philippe 9:29 p.m., January 05, 2023

The year 2023 promises to be quite dark for French companies.

Business failures or defaults rose sharply in 2022, to the point that 41,000 companies were in default of payment.

A brutal situation, which must nevertheless be qualified.

French companies are not looking good.

After a lull linked to "whatever the cost" in 2020 and 2021, business failures or defaults rose sharply in 2022, to such an extent that the Banque de France counted 41,000 companies in default of payment , up 48% compared to 2021. This sudden increase must nevertheless be qualified since the figures remain lower than those of 2019 and 2018, years during which more than 50,000 companies had stumbled.

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SMEs most affected

It remains fairly clear that 2023 is not looking the best, even if all is not so bleak.

The creation of companies is in particular in very strong momentum, but the explosion of the costs of energy and the growth at half mast make fear the worst.

The potential victims are SMEs, unable to repay their state-guaranteed loans or pay their electricity bills.

“We are more on SMEs which are in the building and construction sector but also in transport activities for example”, specifies Thierry Millon, director of studies for the company Altares, which analyzes the situation of companies.

The darkest forecasts anticipate more than 60,000 companies in bankruptcy, this was the level observed during the 2009 financial crisis in France.