Corporate insolvencies in France:micro-entreprises in the wave’s trough

During the first four months of 2019, the rate of corporate insolvencies in France increased by +0.8%. This rate was particularly high during January and February, mainly due to the repercussions of the "gilets jaunes" (yellow vests) movement; however, the increasing rate of insolvencies declined in March and April. Nonetheless, Coface anticipates that, despite resilient economic growth, insolvencies will increase by +1.7% over the whole of 2019. This is due to an unfavourable international environment (caused by less dynamic growth of major partners and increased protectionism) and by significant supply constraints (for instance, production capacity utilisation rates and recruitment difficulties are at their highest since 2007). The main sectors responsible for defaults, with the notable exceptions of the construction and agri-food industries, continued to experience a decline at the beginning of this year.