Manufacturing, retail, construction: small businesses are more likely to go bust
Unioncamere Observatory: 5,230 compulsory liquidations in the first half of 2026, with Lombardy leading the way. Negotiated crisis resolution procedures are on the rise, with 1,128 applications as at 1 September
Key points
It is the other side of the Italian economy. The side that is more readily left in the shadows, to be overlooked. The side that does not tell of successes, but of failures. And alongside these, it highlights the vulnerabilities of many businesses. Particularly small ones. Crushed by the effects of international tensions, by debts arising from high energy costs or by online competition; by changing consumer habits in some sectors, by rising raw material costs or by the withdrawal of subsidies in others. Not to mention those businesses that have been drained of their resources by organised crime. One fact emerges irrefutably from the latest report by the Unioncamere Observatory on the Business Crisis, previewed by Il Sole 24 Ore: difficulties are increasingly besieging Italian companies. Indeed, the first half of 2026 has seen a continued rise in (almost all) proceedings relating to financial distress. As has been the case for the past three years.
From redundancy payments to composition with creditors: all the figures from the report
There has been an increase in simplified composition proceedings (83 applications up to June 2026, compared with 63 in the same period of 2025); restructuring agreements remain stable (167 applications), as do, essentially, judicial liquidations (the old form of bankruptcy), which are on an upward trend: 5,230 applications in the first half of 2026. There were 5,286 in 2025: a 1 per cent fall, considered ‘still insignificant’ by industry experts, particularly in light of the trend over recent years, which peaked last year (from 4,222 applications in 2024 to 5,286). In short, this initial dip is too small to suggest a reversal of the trend. Furthermore, administrative compulsory liquidations – measures reserved for specific categories – continue to rise significantly, by 14 per cent, according to Unioncamere: 290 proceedings in the first six months, compared with 254 up to June 2025. Following a sharp rise last year, the number of voluntary arrangements has, however, fallen (from 511 to 451).
The steady rise in enquiries regarding negotiated settlements speaks volumes not only about the crisis facing many businesses – including major ones – but also, not infrequently, about its resolution (see separate article): 897 proceedings were initiated in the first half of this year, almost double the figure for 2024. And by 1 September, the number of applications had already risen to 1,128.
Lombardy first, then Lazio
The fifth report by the Business Crisis Observatory provides an analytical examination, based on the Companies Register, of the rise in the number of cases handled by the bankruptcy divisions of the courts, as reflected in the statistics published by the Ministry of Justice.
Among judicial liquidations, which are on the rise in Milan as well as in Rome, Lombardy remains the region with the highest number of cases overall, as is also the case for other proceedings: 1,036 bankruptcies up to June; followed by Lazio (844) and Campania (478); then Tuscany (417) and, progressively – from Veneto to Piedmont to Emilia-Romagna – all the other regions, with numbers decreasing steadily in the less industrialised areas of the South. This is a fairly accurate reflection of the density of businesses.
