Spain Faces a Sharp Rise in Corporate Bankruptcies Across 2022
The latest annual snapshot from Axesor shows about 1,500 Spanish businesses officially declared bankruptcy in 2022. The data highlights a sector already stretched in the years before the pandemic, with the downturn intensifying last year. Between January and December, bankruptcies climbed by 34 percent in this area, marking the worst level in a decade according to the 2022 balance sheet released by the information services firm halberdier. This is a stark continuation of pressures that began before the health crisis and have persisted into the postpandemic period. Axesor notes inflation, reduced consumer spending, and ongoing uncertainty as core drivers behind these insolvencies.
The deterioration described by Axesor points to a broader economic shakeout that has affected many segments of the commercial base. Industry insiders have spoken for months about a perfect storm: rising costs for raw materials, energy, and transport; higher rents and mortgage payments; and shrinking consumer purchasing power, all set against a mild winter that dampened demand in some sectors, notably fashion. In this context, many businesses faced tougher margins and tighter access to credit, increasing the risk of insolvency.
Policy measures introduced after the peak of the pandemic were intended to prevent a wave of shutdowns. However, by midyear these safeguards required bankrupt entities to declare insolvency anew starting September 1, underlining the persistent fragility of many companies in the market. This turn of events reinforces the idea that the postcrisis period has created a brittle business climate for a substantial portion of the economy.
To put 2022 in perspective, Axesor’s analysis reminds readers that the total number of bankruptcies in the year reached 1,460, which is 27 percent higher than the last pre-pandemic year recorded in 2019. The figure illustrates a persistent gap between early-pandemic expectations and the actual recovery path seen in many industries. This year-over-year increase underscores how the pandemic’s echo continues to challenge corporate resilience and survivability across the country.
Turning to sector composition, the construction industry was the second most affected field, rising about 19.3 percent from the previous year and recording roughly 1,000 bankruptcy cases in 2022. The manufacturing sector followed closely, with nearly 790 insolvencies, reflecting a marked 26.9 percent increase. The hospitality sector also saw a notable rise but to a lesser extent, up roughly 10 percent, countering some earlier expectations of a robust rebound in service-oriented areas. Yet even with this growth, it remains a sector that has managed to pull back from the upper edge of the trend in some months. This variation across industries illustrates the uneven distribution of risk and the uneven pace of recovery across different parts of the economy.
Axesor’s comprehensive radar indicates that 2022 registered 6,676 bankruptcies across Spain, up about 21.5 percent from the prior year. Liquidations rose by 8 percent, tallying 68,413. Among all regions, Madrid and Catalonia faced the most significant challenges in equal measure, with Madrid climbing in the ranking and Catalonia continuing to lead the country in the number of company formations. The geographic pattern shows that both markets remain particularly exposed to the strains seen in the broader economy, signaling a need for targeted support and strategic resilience planning as firms navigate ongoing uncertainty in the coming period. The data underlying these conclusions come from the Axesor analysis, which has tracked insolvencies and liquidations to present a clear profile of Spain’s corporate health during 2022.