Germany saw a 9.9-percent fall in the number of companies going bust in May year on year, according to data released earlier this week - but worse was still expected as the coronavirus crisis rattles industries.
The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) said 1,504 insolvencies were filed with local courts that month.
However, the agency noted that the economic struggles unleashed by the pandemic were not reflected in the trend, given that Germany suspended the obligation to file for insolvency from March 1.
Economists are still expecting insolvencies in Europe's largest economy to skyrocket during the course of the year.
The obligation to announce insolvency was initially suspended until the end of September, but business groups have called on the government to extend the emergency measure.
In May, most insolvencies were in the trade sector, including in automotive plants, with 247 cases.
Construction businesses filed 235 applications for insolvency, followed by freelance, research and technical services with 168, and hospitality with 164.
The insolvent businesses were larger on average than last year. At just under 3.1 billion euros (3.6 billion dollars), the expected claims from creditors were significantly higher than in May 2019, when the sum was 2.5 billion euros.
After being dragged into a deep recession by the coronavirus, the German economy is expected to get on the road to recovery in the second half of the year, with many restrictions having been lifted in recent months.
On average, German businesses expect coronavirus restrictions on public life to continue for anothger 8.5 months, according to a survey released by the ifo research institute on Monday.
Companies in the leisure sector had a bleaker outlook, saying they expected restrictions to last 13 months, while manufacturing firms said they could be lifted completely in as few as 7.8 months, the Munich-based researchers said.
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