Dutch bankruptcies down to pre-crisis levels

The number of bankruptcies in the Netherlands last year fell to its lowest level since 2008, Statistics Netherlands announced on Monday. In 2016 a total of 4,396 companies were declared bankrupt - nearly a fifth less than in 2015 and almost 4 thousand fewer than when bankruptcies peaked in 2013.

Last month 328 companies and institutions were declared bankrupt, 88 fewer than in November 2016.

The number of bankruptcies declined in almost all industries last year. The construction industry saw the strongest decline with 33 percent, partly due to the recovery in the housing market. The financial services industry saw a 20 percent decline in bankruptcy and the trade sector 15 percent.

All provinces except Friesland saw a decline in bankruptcies. Zuid-Holland had the biggest decline in absolute numbers. Relative to business population, Flevoland saw the biggest decrease.