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Vienna in the bankruptcy tsunami: 1,140 bankruptcies in just 9 months!
In 2025, Vienna will see a record increase in corporate insolvencies, with immediate economic consequences.
Vienna in the bankruptcy tsunami: 1,140 bankruptcies in just 9 months!
The current insolvency statistics in Vienna paint a bleak picture for the domestic economy. According to the Alpine Creditors Association (AKV), there were already 1,140 company bankruptcies in the first three quarters of 2025, which represents an increase of 2.80 percent compared to the record year of 2024. This means that Vienna continues to follow a worrying course in corporate bankruptcies, which will probably go down in the history books. This development is also reflected in the fact that on average 127 bankruptcies were opened every month, which together clear up a whopping 6.65 billion euros in debt. My district reports about these alarming trends.
The real estate and construction industries were hit particularly hard. Eight of the ten largest bankruptcies come from the Signa universe. The largest insolvency that shocked the market was that of Signa Warenhaus Premium Immobilien Beteiligung GmbH with claims of over 1.04 billion euros. But Süba AG and Erste Wiener Hotel-Aktiengesellschaft also recorded large amounts of 261 million euros and 254 million euros in outstanding claims. Many creditors are now facing a painful total default, as more than a third of the proceedings resulted in a complete loss of repayments.
The nationwide situation
A look beyond Vienna's borders shows that insolvencies throughout Austria will have climbed to a new record high in 2024. Experts fear that insolvency rates will also skyrocket in 2025 and could possibly reach the historic high of over 32,000 company insolvencies from the crisis year of 2009. The Federal Statistical Office has reported a 16.8 percent increase in insolvencies for 2024, with October 2024 being particularly noticeable with an increase of 35.9 percent compared to the previous year.
The economic starting position is particularly important for companies. High energy costs, bureaucratic hurdles, political uncertainty and restrained consumer demand create pressure that is almost unbearable. The exemptions that have been in effect since the pandemic have now expired, which has made the situation even worse for many companies. Meanwhile, the chaos is compounded by the fact that long overdue investments in future viability have been missed in many sectors and key industries.
Regional effects
In total, 2,865 jobs were at risk in Vienna in the first nine months of 2025, which shows a slight decrease compared to 3,478 in the same period in 2024. The service sector is particularly in the focus of affected employees. The voices of experts, such as Christoph Niering, chairman of the professional association of insolvency administrators, urgently warn about the consequences of regional structural change. Credit reform shows that insolvencies in Western Europe rose by 12.2 percent in 2024 and this could also be a premonition of the ongoing challenges for Austria.
The chairmen of the various associations and also the AKV express the hope that an economic recovery can occur by 2026 at the latest. Until then, we can only hope that we will overcome this difficult time and find new ways to get our economy back on track.