Company Insolvency Statistics, May 2024
Monthly company insolvency statistics for England and Wales, as well as Scotland and Northern Ireland.
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This publication relates to company insolvency only. Statistics relating to individual insolvency can be found on the individual insolvency releases page.
Main messages for England and Wales
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After seasonal adjustment, the number of registered company insolvencies in England and Wales in May 2024 was 2,006, 6% lower than in April 2024 (2,144) and 21% lower than the same month in the previous year (2,547 in May 2023, which was the highest monthly number since October 2008). The number of company insolvencies remained much higher than those seen both during the COVID-19 pandemic and between 2014 and 2019.
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Company insolvencies in May 2024 consisted of 271 compulsory liquidations, 1,590 creditors’ voluntary liquidations (CVLs), 126 administrations and 19 company voluntary arrangements (CVAs). Numbers of CVLs and administrations were lower than in both May 2023 and April 2024, while the number of compulsory liquidations was lower than in May 2023, but higher than in April 2024 .
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One in 180 companies on the Companies House effective register (at a rate of 55.6 per 10,000 companies) entered insolvency between 1 June 2023 and 31 May 2024. This was an increase from the 54.2 per 10,000 companies that entered insolvency in the 12 months ending 31 May 2023. These 12-month rolling rates are calculated as a proportion of the total number of companies on the effective register to show longer term trends and reduce the volatility that would be associated with estimates based on single months.
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While the insolvency rate has increased since the lows seen in 2020 and 2021, it remains much lower than the peak of 113.1 per 10,000 companies seen during the 2008-09 recession. This is because the number of companies on the effective register has more than doubled over this period.