Business failures up 54% in the first half of 2023

Predominantly SME liquidations are making up nearly all of the increases and this is largely down to the impact of cost inflation, rising interest rates and legacy debt build-up

The arts, entertainment and recreation sector had a failure rate of nearly three times that of the national average over the past 12 months.

There has been a surge in business failures in Ireland in the first half of the year with insolvency levels 54% higher than 2022.

According to PwC’s Insolvency Barometer, 321 businesses failed so far this year, up from 209 in the same period last year. In the second quarter, insolvencies increased by 55% when compared to Q2 2022.