Record High French Business Failures in 2025 Highlight Economic Struggles and Government Challenges

In 2025, France experienced a historic surge in business failures, with 69,957 enterprises entering safeguard, recovery, or judicial liquidation procedures—a 3.1% increase from 2024. This marked the highest number recorded and significantly impacted employment and government finances.

According to recent reports, the surge in business collapses led to the loss or threat of 267,200 jobs, an increase of 11,500 compared to the previous year. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) were particularly affected, accounting for 84.7% of liquidations in 2024. The end of pandemic support measures and rising energy costs exacerbated these difficulties, straining SMEs and manufacturing sectors the hardest. The number of business failures has risen dramatically by 59% between 2021 and 2025.

Yves Jégo, a former minister and economic commentator, emphasized the dual fiscal burdens of liquidations. He outlined that beyond unemployment benefits, these failures cause significant losses in social security and tax revenues. For example, the recent liquidation of appliance group Brandt alone is estimated to cost the French state between 13.9 and 14.4 million euros annually. Jégo sharply criticized the government's current response and called for urgent interventions, including introducing a 30% industrial tax credit to promote investment in production and boost competitiveness.

Despite the grim overall trend, there was a slight positive sign in the last quarter of 2025, with a 1.3% decrease in business liquidations compared to the same period in 2024, suggesting a possible early stabilization.

French macroeconomic expert Philippe Crevel, founder of economic consultancy Lorello Ecodata and director of Cercle de l’Epargne, remains a key figure in analyzing such economic challenges, although specific commentary on this latest data was not detailed.

This sharp rise in business failures underscores the critical challenges facing France’s economy, amplifying job insecurity and pressuring government finances while highlighting calls for stronger targeted measures to support struggling SMEs and revitalize industrial production.