The health crisis caused by COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the Spanish business demographics of 2020. As a consequence, the key indicators used in this study recorded atypical levels.
Companies' constitutions and capital investments hit their lowest figures of the decade
In 2020, constitutions were around 79,779 —the lowest figure since 2010—, which accounts for almost 16% less than the previous year. That amount is caused by the significant decrease observed after lockdown, in April and May, although since August constitutions are returning to similar figures of those from 2019.
Constitutions' evolution: 2019 vs 2020
The decrease in constitutions has been widespread, both at a geographical and sectoral level. The most affected regions are Madrid and Catalonia, while the most affected sectors are Construction and real estate activities and Hotels and restaurants.
The invested capital in constitutions reached 5,042 million euros in 2020, recording its lowest figure since 2009 and 9.15% less than in 2019. The second highest investment figure of the year was recorded in December with around 830 million.
The regions that suffered the most important decreases were the region of Valencia and Catalonia; on the other hand, Madrid recorded the highest capital investment increase in constitutions. The most affected sectors by the decrease in capital investment in 2020 were Construction and real estate activities and Hotels and restaurants.
Insolvency proceedings in 2020 were at their lowest since 2008
There were 4,376 insolvency proceedings in Spain in 2020, 2.39% less than in 2019. Even though many companies face difficulties due to the health crisis, the insolvency moratorium —which has been delayed until April 2021— accounts for that low number. Therefore, an increase of insolvency proceedings is expected starting in April this year.
Although in June 2020 insolvency proceedings started to rise above the figures of last year in the monthly comparative, the accumulated data at the end of the year are inferior to the data of 2019.
Insolvency proceedings' evolution: 2019 vs 2020
In 2020, most of the insolvency proceedings were concentrated on Catalonia, Madrid and the region of Valencia.
The rate of simultaneous liquidations-insolvency proceedings has been increasing throughout the year: 57.17% of the insolvency proceedings filed in December ended with a simultaneous liquidation, while that rate was around 47.6% in January.
The analysis by size shows that almost 86% of the companies in insolvency proceedings in 2020 were micro-companies, even though their insolvency proceedings' rate (number of bankruptcies/active companies) is 0.11%, which is inferior to that of larger companies (0.56% for small companies and 0.48% for medium-sized companies).
Companies in insolvency proceedings, classified by size.
Source: Informa
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