Recent official figures in Austria have shown a significant increase in the number of company bankruptcies in the country during the first half of this year. A report issued by the Austrian organization "AKV Europa," which specializes in examining and evaluating credit applications, recorded 2,098 cases of bankruptcy in the first half of this year, representing a 35.8% increase compared to the same period last year. This is the highest number of company bankruptcies in Austria in the last 15 years.
The semi-annual figures also revealed that the total liabilities of bankrupt companies in Austria reached 11.5 billion euros (12.55 billion dollars), increasing ninefold compared to the same period last year, primarily due to several major bankruptcies, including those of the "Signa Group" and the Austrian branch of the American electric car manufacturer "Fisker," which significantly contributed to the rise in liabilities.
Economic experts believe that the reasons for the increase in company bankruptcies in Austria include reluctance to consume and invest, ongoing industrial recession, rising interest rates and unemployment figures, stringent lending requirements, and a slight decline in gross domestic product in the first half of this year compared to the previous year.
