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Denmark sees most bankruptcies in a decade

Christian Wenande
October 7th, 2022


This article is more than 2 years old.

Over the past four months, the average number of closed businesses hasn’t been as high since the aftermath of the financial crisis in 2009

The pandemic and energy crisis have hit companies hard (photo: Pixabay)

The pandemic and ongoing energy crisis are putting immense pressure on the business sector, and that has led to a sharp rise in the number of bankruptcies this year.

According to new figures from Danmarks Statistik, the average number of bankruptcies in active companies in the year’s first nine months is at the highest level since 2012.

And the situation has been particularly dire recently. 

Over the past four months, the average number of closed businesses has reached a level not seen since the aftermath of the financial crisis in 2009 and 2010.

READ ALSO: COVID-19 pandemic cost the state huge sums of money

Already a tenuous position
In September alone, 251 bankruptcies were reported nationwide – a 7.6 percent increase compared to the month before – which led to 1,242 lost jobs (almost 40 percent more than in August).

Interestingly, companies that had been given a pandemic-relief VAT loans accounted for 45 percent of bankruptcies through the first nine months of the year. 

Over the past four months, that figure has been at 49 percent. 

Check out the national bankruptcy figures here (in Danish).


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A survey carried out by Megafon for TV2 has found that 71 percent of parents have handed over children to daycare in spite of them being sick.

Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”