The number of bankruptcy declarations declined across nearly all sectors in the first eight months of the year, according to new figures from Statistics Finland.
Fewer corporate bankruptcies were registered in Finland during January-August compared to last year, according to Statistics Finland.
The number-crunching agency reported on Wednesday that during the first eight months of the year bankruptcies declined by 8.6 percent, year-on-year.
A total of 1,591 bankruptcy declarations were filed by the end of August, which is 149 less than during the same period in 2019.
However, more employees were affected by this year's insolvencies, as the companies that declared bankruptcy had an average of about five percent more workers than last year, according to the statistics agency.
Nearly all industries saw decline
Bankruptcies decreased across all sectors of the economy with the exception of the raw materials and mining industry, which saw an increase of four more bankruptcies, than last year, an increase of 2.7 percent.
The steepest decline in bankruptcies were seen within the construction sector, where they shrank by 15 percent compared to January-August of last year.
Most of the bankruptcies that were registered this year were filed during January and February, before the coronavirus crisis reached Finland.
Meanwhile, there were significantly fewer bankruptcy filings during the summer months than in previous years, according to the agency's data.
Statistics Finland noted that filing for bankruptcy does not necessarily mean that the company or individual doing so is technically insolvent, in the true sense of the term, but rather is entering a complex and lengthy legal process with many phases and possible interruptions.