The figure was the highest since 2011, when the effects of the financial crisis were still being felt.

“The closure numbers are alarming in all economic sectors,” Creditreform’s Patrik-Ludwig Hantzsch said. “Industrial concerns are being hit by high energy costs in production, while competition from foreign providers is rising,” he added.

Closures in energy-intensive sectors rose by 26% on the year to 1,050, and closures in IT, product development, environmental technology and diagnostics were up by a similar proportion.

Sandra Gottschalk of the ZEW noted that these sectors should have grown, as they are future-oriented, but she said that a serious lack of skilled personnel meant strong competition among companies.

“This leads to not enough orders being accepted to be able to operate economically,” Gottschalk said.

The pharma and chemicals sectors also showed high closure rates.

Many of the closures relate to small proprietary businesses, but larger companies have also been affected over recent years.

The researchers noted that the closures were not always caused by insolvency but were often voluntary, such as when an owner who wants to retire cannot find a successor.

And companies still operating profitably sometimes decide to shut down when the long-term outlook does not look good.

– dpa