Business failures ‘stable’ in 2025 – PwC
Insolvency levels have remained steady over the past three years, according to figures from professional-services firm PwC.
Its Insolvency Barometer shows that 848 business failed in 2025 – a slight decrease from 868 last year but higher than the 736 recorded in 2023.
PwC’s analysis finds that last year’s insolvency rate was 27 per 10,000 companies, which it says is well below the 21-year average of 49 per 10,000 businesses. The peak figure of 109 per 10,000 companies was recorded in 2012.
Jobless-rate signal
The professional-services firm has also found an “almost perfect” statistical correlation between the unemployment rate and the insolvency rate per 10,000 companies.
It calculates that every increase of one percentage point in the unemployment rate leads to an additional 245 insolvencies.
PwC points out that the unemployment rate increased from 4% in January to 4.9% in November, adding that, if this trend persists during 2026, it expects to see an increase in insolvency levels during the coming years.
Revenue’s recovery efforts
Its 2025 figures show that court-appointed liquidations surged by almost 80% to 113 last year, with Revenue behind three out of every five petitions.
PwC says that this reflects the tax body’s increased recovery efforts after the end of the debt-warehousing scheme and a growing reliance on court enforcement.
Retail still tops all sectors for insolvencies, with 151 cases in 2025. This was, however, a 25% decrease from the 201 cases recorded in 2024.
“This sustained decline may reflect improved trading conditions and stronger consumer sentiment, along with possible successful restructuring efforts within the sector,” PwC says.
The hospitality industry recorded 141 insolvencies in 2025 – slightly below the 154 in 2024.
PwC points out, however, that the sector has an above-average insolvency rate of 68 per 10,000 businesses, compared with retail’s 23 per 10,000 businesses.
Examinerships double
The report finds a “continued low uptake” of SCARP, with only 23 processes starting last year – down from 30 in 2024 and 33 in 2023.
Since its introduction in 2021, just 108 SCARPs have been initiated.
In contrast, examinership activity more than doubled compared with 2024, with 23 examinerships beginning.
Receivership appointments rose by 12% to 113 last year, while creditor voluntary liquidations fell 13% to 576.
Ken Tyrrell (business-recovery partner, PwC Ireland) said that the low and stable rate of insolvencies reflected the Irish economy’s strong performance in recent years, despite geopolitical instability, inflation, interest-rate variability, and tariff changes.
“However, our analysis also shows that if Irish unemployment were to continue to increase, we will also likely see increasing insolvencies in the future,” he added.