Insolvencies remain steady at 2024 levels despite an increase in Q2 of 2025

PwC’s latest Insolvency Barometer, analysing insolvencies for the second quarter of 2025, published today, reveals insolvencies remain steady at 2024 levels despite an almost 20% uptick in Q2 of 2025.

Q2 of 2025 sees almost 20% rise in insolvencies, bringing total insolvencies for first half of 2025 in line with the same period of 2024

Q2 of 2025 recorded 229 insolvencies, an almost 20% increase compared to the lower insolvencies in Q1 of 2025 (192).  At the same time, total insolvencies for the first half of the year (421) are exactly in line with the number of insolvencies recorded in the same 6-month period of 2024. This consistency suggests that the Irish economy and Irish businesses continue to demonstrate resilience amid domestic challenges and international geopolitical uncertainties. 

Court liquidations rise driven by increased Revenue enforcement activity 

Court appointed liquidations rose by nearly 40% in Q2 of 2025 to 34 compared to 25 in Q1 of 2025. This brings the total court appointed liquidations for the first half of the year to 59 – more than three times that recorded (19) during the same period for 2024. The Office of the Revenue Commissioners were the petitioner of 38 of these 59 cases, suggesting that the elevated enforcement actions are linked to the recovery of debts following the conclusion of Revenue’s debt warehousing scheme are a key driver. For the same period last year, there were 5 Revenue petitions.

Interestingly during the first six months of 2025, the Revenue Commissioners have petitioned to liquidate 38 companies, which is nearly three times the number of companies (14) seeking to avail of the SCARP rescue process.

Retail insolvencies more than double in Q2 of 2025 

The number of Retail insolvencies more than doubled in the second quarter of 2025 (53) compared to the first quarter of the year (25). This increase comes after the industry demonstrated strong resilience post-Christmas. However, despite the apparent spike in Q2, the total number of retail insolvencies for the first half of the year (78) is still slightly lower compared to the same period of 2024 (84).  

Hospitality insolvencies fall slightly in Q2 of 2025, despite an industry still facing challenges

The Hospitality industry recorded 35 insolvencies in Q2 of 2025, a decrease of 19% from 43 insolvencies recorded in Q1 2025. Albeit a decrease quarter on quarter, this level of hospitality insolvencies is closely in line with the average of 39 insolvencies per quarter observed across 2024 and the first quarter of 2025, indicating a consistency within the industry due to ongoing macroeconomic and sector-specific challenges.

Lender enforcement declines in Q2, but year-to-date levels are up compared to the same period of 2024

Receivership appointments fell significantly in Q2 of 2025 (19). This represents an almost 50% decrease from the 36 recorded in Q1 of 2025, and a reversal of the uptick in lender activity seen in the first quarter compared to each of the four quarters of 2024. Despite the slowdown in Q2, the total number of receiverships for the first half of 2025 stands at 55, an increase of 17% over the same period of 2024 (47).

Insolvency rate per 10,000 businesses has doubled since 2021 but remains below the 20-year average

The PwC Insolvency Barometer reveals an annual insolvency rate of 29 per 10,000 businesses. The current rate is more than double the rate of 14 per 10,000 recorded in 2021 and remains below the 20-year average of 50 per 10,000 businesses.  The annual insolvency rate remains far below the previous peak of 109 per 10,000 businesses recorded in 2012. 

Increase in examinerships, while SCARP utilisation remains low 

There was a notable increase in examinerships in Q2 of 2025, with 13 appointments recorded compared to just one in Q1 of 2025. Of the 13 companies, 7 belonged to a single large group of related companies placed under high court protection, so a more accurate comparable figure is 7 for the second quarter. Using this adjusted comparable number of examinerships, the 8 appointments for the first half of 2025 represent a slight increase in appointments when compared to the same period of 2024 (6).

SCARP continues to see limited uptake. 14 SCARP cases were recorded in the first half of 2025, broadly in line with the 13 cases during the same period of 2024. SCARP cases accounted for just 3% of all insolvencies for the year to date, suggesting that while the process is now well established, its utilisation remains low.  
 
Top five counties account for 75% of insolvencies - Dublin, Cork, Galway, Kilkenny and Meath account for 3 out of every 4 insolvencies for the quarter, with Dublin alone accounting for half of all insolvencies.

Ken Tyrrell, Business Recovery Partner, PwC Ireland, commented: “We see a steadying in insolvency levels when you look at the six months ended June 2025 compared to the same period in the previous year, despite an uptick for quarter 2 of 2025. This steadying of insolvencies over the six-month timeline shows that the Irish economy and Irish businesses continue to demonstrate resilience amid domestic challenges and international geopolitical uncertainties.

“However, you cannot ignore the ongoing global geopolitical risks and prevailing economic uncertainties, and it remains to be seen what the remainder of the year has in store.  Businesses and consumers also continue to deal with a higher cost base driven by domestic and international factors.  Organisations should continue to reinvent their businesses using AI and emerging technologies.  They should focus on their core strategies, cost base and actively manage their working capital and cash positions to ensure that they are financially sustainable into the future.”

Notes to the editor

Over 4,500 businesses saved as a result of Government COVID supports 

In PwC’s inaugural report, ‘Act Now: From Recovery to Growth’ published in February 2022, it was estimated that over 4,500 businesses were saved from failure primarily as a result of the Government’s COVID supports, with a number of these businesses essentially being put on ‘life-support’. 

Why we use a per 10,000 business measure - Insolvency Rate 

PwC’s analysis is based on a per 10,000 measure.  It is also widely used when comparing the birth or death rates across different regions or countries.  It is a simple yet effective statistic for comparison purposes between different periods, industries, towns, counties, or countries with different population sizes. It provides meaningful context to the numbers rather than simply looking at them in absolute terms.

SCARP stands for Small Company Administration Rescue Process.  The small company rescue process (“SCARP”) was enacted by the Government to provide an alternative restructuring tool for businesses commencing in December 2021.

Creating a cash-conscious culture is critical to ensure organisations can improve and accelerate their resilience to mitigate the impacts and flourish in the future. To achieve this, everyone in an organisation needs to be focused on cash. This is a collective responsibility from the boardroom and across the business - not just the finance team or treasury - to make decisions impacting cash.

Four ways to optimise a company’s cash culture

1. Make cash the business of everyone in the organisation 
2. Cash can mean different things to different people, so make cash relevant to everyone  
3. Forecasting cash and appropriately granular scenario planning  
4. Understanding and sharing your minimum cash thresholds