Weekly figures

Weekly figures in table 12972 in StatBank are published daily at 11:30 a.m.

Monthly figures in the tables 07218, 08551 and 09695, were published 23 February 2024.

Bankruptcies

Updated: 26 January 2024

Next update: 29 April 2024

Bankruptcies
Bankruptcies
4th quarter 2023
1 186
Bankruptcies
Bankruptcies
1st quarter 20232nd quarter 20233rd quarter 20234th quarter 2023
Total number of bankruptcies1 3171 0689461 186
Bankruptices related to enterprises1 090846823986
Personal bankruptcies, incl. sole proprietorships227222123200
Bankruptcies in construction390333255351
Bankruptcies in wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles237197175191
Explanation of symbols

Selected tables and charts from this statistics

  • Bankruptcies, by industrial activity
    Bankruptcies, by industrial activity
    4th quarter 20224th quarter 2023
    Bankruptcies related to enterprises, excl. sole proprietorshipsBankruptcies related to sole proprietorships, incl. personal bankruptciesBankruptcies related to enterprises, excl. sole proprietorshipsBankruptcies related to sole proprietorships, incl. personal bankruptcies
    Total836170986200
    Agriculture, forestry and fishing76158
    Mining and quarrying0100
    Manufacturing353363
    Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply0020
    Water supply1010
    Construction2146026487
    Wholesale and retail trade1861017813
    Transportation and storage33254835
    Accommodation and food service activities11831355
    Information and communication344467
    Financial and insurance activities1090
    Real estate activities240260
    Professional, scientific and technical activities67167711
    Administrative and support service activities48205612
    Public administration and defence0000
    Education5150
    Human health and social work activities174123
    Arts, entertainment and recreation95164
    Other service activities279316
    Activities of household as employers0000
    Activities of extraterritorial organisations and bodies0000
    Unknown industry103296
    Explanation of symbols
  • Bankruptcies, turnover and persons employed, by industrial activity
    Bankruptcies, turnover and persons employed, by industrial activity
    4th quarter 20224th quarter 2023
    BankruptciesTurnover in NOK 1 000Persons employedBankruptciesTurnover in NOK 1 000Persons employed
    Total1 0064 713 5203 1971 1866 853 8653 826
    Bankruptcies related to enterprises except sole proprietorships8364 591 1513 0369865 923 3443 637
    Agriculture, forestry and fishing726 619111543 16223
    Mining and quarrying000000
    Manufacturing35..30036..99
    Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply0002..1
    Water supply1....1..1
    Construction2141 752 5188412642 542 2641 198
    Wholesale and retail trade1861 216 3845701781 210 948634
    Transportation and storage3381 97511148269 268187
    Accommodation and food service activities118..460135371 513512
    Information and communication3436 7534246369 838124
    Financial and insurance activities1....9266
    Real estate activities2479 317482639 61514
    Professional, scientific and technical activities67280 8989277397 446253
    Administrative and support service activities48244 53935056294 396438
    Public administration and defence000000
    Education5..751 7240
    Human health and social work activities1775 97614412..35
    Arts, entertainment and recreation95 95881627 26535
    Other service activities2729 670493143 12969
    Activities of household as employers000000
    Activities of extraterritorial organisations and bodies000000
    Unknown industry10..32916 4438
    Sole proprietorships incl. personal bankruptcies170122 369161200930 521189
    Agriculture, forestry and fishing62 941585 9438
    Mining and quarrying1..1000
    Manufacturing3..33..1
    Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply000000
    Water supply000000
    Construction6059 097758764 74462
    Wholesale and retail trade102 312313793 00911
    Transportation and storage2524 712313525 27839
    Accommodation and food service activities3..2513 53126
    Information and communication42 466371 2635
    Financial and insurance activities000000
    Real estate activities000000
    Professional, scientific and technical activities165 31151110 5419
    Administrative and support service activities209 18717124 09811
    Public administration and defence000000
    Education1..1000
    Human health and social work activities41 45933..11
    Arts, entertainment and recreation56 942241 2942
    Other service activities94 3531061 7853
    Activities of household as employers000000
    Activities of extraterritorial organisations and bodies000000
    Unknown industry3....62151
    Explanation of symbols
  • Bankruptcies in private limited companies and public limited companies, by county and share capital (in NOK)
    Bankruptcies in private limited companies and public limited companies, by county and share capital (in NOK)
    4th quarter 20224th quarter 2023
    TotalLess than 51 00051 000-100 000101 000-250 000251 000-500 000More than 500 000TotalLess than 51 00051 000-100 000101 000-250 000251 000-500 000More than 500 000
    Total8255521324431669736151237746112
    Viken (2020-2023)208162287382011472271114
    Oslo1761143297141951382111916
    Innlandet4829633748297516
    Vestfold og Telemark (2020-2023)72451344610370116412
    Agder3625521351296646
    Rogaland61351152855339229
    Vestland90542052999491811417
    Møre og Romsdal22133330472552510
    Trøndelag - Trööndelage55341133487461411511
    Nordland - Nordlánnda2920231347268805
    Troms og Finnmark - Romsa ja Finnmárku (2020-2023)2720102437232615
    Svalbard110000300201
    Explanation of symbols
  • Bankruptcies, by county and legal form
    Bankruptcies, by county and legal form
    4th quarter 20224th quarter 2023
    TotalSole proprietorships incl. personal bankruptciesGeneral partnershipPrivate limited companyPublic limited companyCompany with limited liabilityNorwegian division of foreign enterpriseOther legal formUnknownTotalSole proprietorships incl. personal bankruptciesGeneral partnershipPrivate limited companyPublic limited companyCompany with limited liabilityNorwegian division of foreign enterpriseOther legal formUnknown
    Total1 0061700825006501 186200297300830
    Viken (2020-2023)2685502080032027976020100110
    Oslo2123501760001023538019500110
    Innlandet621304800100651504800200
    Vestfold og Telemark (2020-2023)7640720000011915110300000
    Agder4260360000059805100000
    Rogaland82210610000061515500000
    Vestland11219090002101141509900000
    Møre og Romsdal2310220000049204700000
    Trøndelag - Trööndelage605055000001092108700100
    Nordland - Nordlánnda3450290000049104700100
    Troms og Finnmark - Romsa ja Finnmárku (2020-2023)3460270001043303700210
    Svalbard100100000300300000
    County not stated000000000110000000
    Explanation of symbols

About the statistics

The statistics give an overview of bankruptcies in Norway and are based on data from the Bankruptcy Register.

All juridical objects, which includes all types of firms/enterprises and individuals who have unpaid accounts and are by definition insolvent, can be declared bankrupt. Insolvency is defined as: "When one cannot fulfil its obligations after they have matured." An exception from this is when the insolvency is incidental.

Name: Bankruptcies
Topic: Establishments, enterprises and accounts

29 April 2024

Division for Business Dynamics Statistics

National, county and municipality level

Monthly and quarterly

The monthly bankruptcy statistics is based on information from the Register of Bankruptcies in Brønnøysund, which Statistics Norway receives once a month. The data contains data on bankruptcies from the 15th of the previous month to the 15th of the current month. The data is revised so that the file contains data for the whole previous month. Monthly numbers of bankruptcies, forced sales and registration execution proceedings are published in table 07218 in StatBank. Other monthly numbers are published in table 09695 og 08551 in StatBank.

Quarterly bankruptcy statistics is based on monthly data, which Statistics Norway receives from the Register of Bankruptcies in Brønnøysund. It is published at the end of the following month after each quarter.

Data is part of a delivery til OECD and a voluntary data collection to Eurostat.

Micro data and information on population are temporarily stored in the program language SAS and over the long term as text files. A main file is updated with new data each month. StatBank is updated each quarter.

The purpose of the statistics is to give a survey on bankruptcies in Norway. Furthermore, it provides a categorisation by county, industry, ownership, as well as number of employees, turnover and amount of share capital.

Data on bankruptcies is available from 1920, and for some industries from 1929. Data from 1981 is available in a database.

From 1995 onwards, it has been possible to identify personal bankruptcies. From the same year, categorisation by industries was based on a new industry standard, called SN94. The Central Register of Establishments and Enterprises is used to categorise the statistics by industries.

Categorisation by industry for personal bankruptcies is mainly based on information from the probate registry. From 1995 to 2001, personal bankruptcies were given a 2-digit industry code by the probate registry. From 2001 onwards, Statistics Norway has determined the 2-digit industry code based on profession descriptions from the Register of Bankruptcies.

The data from the Register of Bankruptcies in Brønnøysund is supplemented with information from the Business Register, the Central Coordinating Register for Legal Entities and the Value Added Tax Registration List (the VAT Register).

Users of the statistics are among others financial institutions and the media.

Principles for equal treatment of users in releasing statistics and analyses

No external users have access to the statistics and analyses before they are published and accessible simultaneously for all users on www.ssb.no at 8 am. Prior to this, a minimum of three months' advance notice is given in the Statistics Release Calendar.

The main variables for bankruptcies are: code for municipality and industry, legal forms, number of employees, turnover and amount of share capital. The statistics is linked to the Business Register, the Central Coordinating Register for Legal Entities and the VAT Register. This includes both personal bankrupties (including sole proprietorships) and bankruptcies related to enterprises (exclusive sole proprietorships).

Statistics Act Section 3-2

Not relevant

The statistics includes all bankruptcies in Norway. Information on bankruptcy proceedings is mainly based on information that probate registries and administrators in bankruptcies report to the Register of Bankruptcies. Personal bankruptcies contain bankruptcy proceedings for sole proprietorships and employees. If the debtor is not registered in the Enterprise Register in Brønnøysund, or is a sole proprietorship, the debtor will be classified as en employee. Bankruptcies related to enterprises (exclusive sole proprietorships) are obliged to be registered in the Enterprise register in Brønnøysund.

The data is based on information from the Register of Bankruptcies.

The Register of Bankruptcies transfers a file with bankruptcies to Statistics Norway on the 17th of each month.

Statistics Norway assumes that information on bankruptcies from the Register of Bankruptcies is correct.

Not relevant

If the number of bankruptcies is 3 or less, figures on turnover are not published.

Serial data on bankruptcies is available from 1920, and for some industries from 1929. Data on bankruptcies from 1981 exists in a database. In StatBank, bankruptcy statistics from the 1st quarter of 1999 is presented, as well as total yearly numbers on bankruptcies from 1980.

Statistics Norway assumes that information on bankruptcies transferred by the Register of Bankruptcies is correct.

Not relevant

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