The year 2025 has been marked as an exceptionally difficult period for the largest companies. The scale of insolvencies has reached its highest level in years, with this trend particularly visible in Europe. The consequences are clearly felt by the logistics sector, freight forwarding companies, and medium-sized suppliers operating internationally.rodosupply chains. Trend analyses show that pressure will continue into 2026.
Global record for large company insolvencies
In 2025, 475 companies worldwide with annual revenues exceeding €50 million will declare insolvency. This is slightly more than the previous year (469 cases), but enough to set a new record. Statistically, this translates to the bankruptcy of one large company every 18 hours. Germany, one of the countries with the greatest influence on global statistics, plays a particularly significant role in this trend.
Germany scores highest in a decade
In Germany, 94 large-scale insolvencies were recorded in 2025—an 8% increase from the previous year. This is the highest level since the records began in 2015. As Milo Bogaerts, Regional Director of Allianz Trade, emphasizes, the scale of the problem has been steadily increasing over the past four years, with 2025 marking a peak both in Germany and globally. Germany currently accounts for around one-fifth of all large-scale corporate insolvencies worldwide, making it a key driver of global growth.
The second half of the year brought a sharp deterioration
The first months of 2025 still offered some modest hope for stabilization—fewer cases were recorded in the first half of the year than a year earlier. However, the second half of the year brought a clear worsening of the situation. In the fourth quarter alone, 37 large companies went bankrupt in Germany, and globally, the last three months of the year were the strongest period since records began.
The most affected industries
The sectoral structure shows that the crisis has affected the very foundations of the European economy. In Germany, the services sector (including medical and care facilities), the automotive industry, the chemicals industry, metallurgy, construction, and retail trade have been particularly hard hit. These sectors generate significant transport volumes, so their problems directly impact the situation of carriers, logistics operators, and companies providing transport services.
The domino effect on supply chains
The greatest threat isn't the sheer number of bankruptcies, but their scale and economic interconnectedness. As Maxime Lemerle of Allianz Trade points out, the collapse of large companies can trigger a cascading effect throughout supply chains. The combined revenues of insolvent giants rose to €208 billion—12 percent more than a year earlier. The larger a company disappears from the market, the higher the risk for its suppliers and subcontractors. For smaller transport companies, this means, among other things, an increased risk of non-payment, liquidity stresses, a sudden reduction in the number of orders, and more difficult access to financing. European road transport, dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises heavily dependent on a few large customers, is particularly vulnerable to such shocks.
Europe leads the growth in bankruptcies
The alarming data doesn't just apply to the largest players. In 2025, the global number of corporate insolvencies increased by 6%, and in Germany by as much as 11%. In absolute terms, the largest increases were recorded in countries such as Switzerland, Germany, Italy, and France. For the transport industry, this means not only lower transport volumes but, above all, a growing risk of debt default and greater volatility in the order portfolio.
2026 Forecast: Growth to Slow Down, but Pressure Remains
Allianz Trade experts predict that global insolvencies will rise by another 3% in 2026—the fifth consecutive year of growth. In Germany, the dynamics are expected to be lower (around 1%), but the number of cases will remain high. A slight improvement is possible only in 2027—around 1% globally and as much as 6% in Germany. However, this does not mean a return to the stability of a few years ago. For the logistics and transportation sector, this means a further period of increased risk, during which receivables management, customer diversification, and liquidity control will become crucial for survival.
