Insolvencies in Ireland are up 35 percent for the first nine months of the year (661), compared with the same period in 2023 (491), according to the latest analysis from professional services firm PwC Ireland.
According to PwC’s Insolvency Barometer, that figure also represents an increase of 86 percent compared with the same period in 2022 (356).
If the current trend continues, PwC predicts over 900 total insolvencies by the end of the year.
Retail insolvencies have increased by 77 percent in the third quarter of 2024 (76) compared to both Q2 (43) and Q1 (43).
The retail industry accounts for nearly a quarter of all insolvencies this year, with 162 to date. This is followed by hospitality, which accounts for nearly one fifth (17 percent) of all insolvencies for the nine months to end September 2024.
Hospitality insolvencies for the third quarter (31) were consistent with Q1 (49) and Q2 (30).
Despite this, PwC describes hospitality as one of the “most adversely affected industries” with an annual insolvency rate of 58 per 10,000 businesses, which it notes is double that of retail (27 per 10,000) and three times that of construction (17 per 10,000).
Based on the most recent financial statements of the hospitality companies liquidated over the past 21 months, the average total liabilities left behind per hospitality company was roughly €380,000.
98 of the 110 hospitality insolvencies recorded this year were liquidations, and left behind total liabilities of approximately €37.2 million.
Hospitality insolvencies can be expected to “increase sharply” at the beginning of 2025, PwC predicts, as businesses that manage to stay open in the lead up to Christmas struggle in the new year.
PwC said that it anticipates a “similar trend” in the retail sector.
In keeping with previously, insolvencies remain concentrated in the east of the country, with over 53 percent of all insolvencies for 2024 so far recorded in Dublin (344).
Of the various forms of insolvency, liquidation remains the most common, accounting for more than 84 percent of all insolvencies to the end of September this year, with 99 percent of all liquidations being SMEs.
The annual insolvency rate has risen to 32 per 10,000 businesses, more than double the 2021 rate of 14 per 10,000, but a figure that remains below the 20-year average of 51 per 10,000 businesses, however, and well below the 2012 peak of 109 per 10,000 businesses.