Bankruptcies fall by 19 pct.; freelancers hold strong

The number of bankruptcies in the Netherlands decreased by 19 percent in the first quarter of this year. Freelancers in particular are doing well. This is according to figures from Faillissementsdossier.nl. A total of 2,179 companies and institutions went bankrupt between January and March this year, compared to 2,701 in the same period last year. According to Faillissementsdossier.nl, the decline can be attributed to the recovery of the economy and the increase in consumer confidence brought on in part by the low energy prices and the cheap euro. Bankruptcies among freelancers decreased with 30 percent. There were 248 sole proprietorship that went bankrupt in the first quarter of this year, compared to 346 in the same quarter last year and 420 in 2013. 95 percent of sole proprietorship are freelancers. At a provincial level, the number of bankruptcies showed the biggest decrease in Noord-Holland.