HELSINKI, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- The number of bankruptcies in Finland continued to grow in December, marking 2025 the worst year for business failures since the recession of the 1990s, Statistics Finland said in a press release published on Friday.
A total of 360 bankruptcy petitions were filed in December 2025, up 34 percent compared to the same month one year earlier. Over the full year, 3,906 companies were declared bankrupt, the statistical agency said.
"Last year's bankruptcy number was the highest since 1996. Compared to the previous year, the number of bankruptcy applications increased by 12 percent," said Mira Kuussaari, chief actuary at Statistics Finland.
Over the past three years, an average of 3,600 companies per year have been declared bankrupt in Finland. By contrast, the annual average in the 2010s was around 2,700, the agency added.
The total number of employees working in companies declared bankrupt in 2025 was approximately 14,300. Kuussaari noted that this number has been higher only three times previously in the 2000s: during the global financial crisis in 2009, in 2013, and in 2023, when the current wave of bankruptcies began.
She explained that the number of employees suggests that the failures are, on average, concentrated among small and medium-sized enterprises.
In a separate press release also issued on Friday, the Federation of Finnish Entrepreneurs warned that the trend is likely to persist. Tiina Toivonen, director of Legislative Affairs at the federation, said the number of bankruptcies would "continue to grow until the economic plug is broken open."
"Small companies in the service sector in particular are still filing for bankruptcy, but the trade and construction sectors are also still in difficulties," Toivonen added.
The rise in business failures comes as Finland grapples with weak labour market conditions. According to figures published last week by Eurostat, Finland currently has the highest unemployment rate in the European Union.
In November 2025, Finland's unemployment stood at 10.6 percent, surpassing Spain, which had previously topped the EU unemployment rankings.
