A total of 206 corporate bankruptcies were announced in Poland in the first half of 2026, almost unchanged from a year earlier. The relatively low number of formal bankruptcies does not, however, mean that the financial condition of Polish companies has improved.
Once restructuring proceedings, rejected bankruptcy petitions and consumer bankruptcies involving former business owners are taken into account, the scale of corporate insolvency problems appears to be several times larger.
Between January and the end of June 2026, 206 companies were declared bankrupt, compared with 207 in the corresponding period of 2025. This represents a year-on-year decline of less than 0.5%.
The number of formal corporate bankruptcies therefore remained stable and significantly below the levels recorded several years ago.
There were 219 bankruptcies in the first half of 2024, 208 in 2023 and 197 in 2022. Much higher figures were recorded between 2018 and 2020, when more than 300 companies were declared bankrupt during the first six months of each year.
March recorded the highest monthly total in the first half of 2026, with 49 bankruptcies. There were 34 cases in April, 32 in May and 30 in June.
The June result was 25% lower than in the corresponding month of 2025, when 40 corporate bankruptcies were announced.
Restructuring replaces traditional bankruptcy
Poland’s Central Economic Information Centre, or COIG, stressed that the number of declared bankruptcies alone does not show the full extent of financial distress among businesses.
An increasing number of companies are choosing restructuring instead of ending their operations through bankruptcy proceedings. Restructuring allows them to seek an agreement with creditors while attempting to continue trading.
A total of 2,566 restructuring proceedings were opened in the first half of 2026. Together with the 206 bankruptcies, this produced 2,772 bankruptcy and restructuring proceedings.
This figure already represents more than half of the 5,549 proceedings recorded during the whole of 2025.
COIG also reported that Polish courts rejected 516 bankruptcy petitions during the first six months of 2026.
At the same time, 1,424 people who had previously operated businesses entered consumer bankruptcy proceedings rather than being declared bankrupt as entrepreneurs.
According to COIG’s estimate, once formal bankruptcies, restructuring proceedings, rejected petitions and consumer bankruptcies involving former business owners are combined, insolvency-related problems may have affected 4,712 businesses during the first half of the year.
This figure illustrates the scale of the problem under COIG’s methodology. It does not necessarily represent 4,712 entirely separate entities, as some categories may relate to different stages of the same business’s financial difficulties.
Limited liability companies account for seven in ten bankruptcies
Limited liability companies formed by far the largest group of bankrupt businesses.
A total of 145 such companies were declared bankrupt during the first half of the year, accounting for 70.39% of all cases.
Sole traders were the second-largest group, with 22 proceedings, equivalent to 10.68% of the total.
There were also 15 bankruptcies involving limited partnerships and 15 involving joint-stock companies.
The figures additionally included five cooperatives, one simple joint-stock company, one branch of a foreign business, one foundation and one family foundation.
The relatively small share of sole traders in formal corporate bankruptcy statistics does not mean that small businesses rarely become insolvent.
Many entrepreneurs close their businesses before entering bankruptcy proceedings and later use the consumer bankruptcy procedure.
Manufacturing records the highest number of bankruptcies
Manufacturing recorded the largest number of bankruptcies among the sectors covered by COIG’s classification.
Of the 205 classified entities included in the sectoral data, 54 were manufacturing companies. They represented 26.34% of the total.
Wholesale and retail trade, including motor vehicle repairs, ranked second with 41 bankruptcies.
Construction accounted for 33 cases, while transport and warehousing recorded 25.
Together, these four sectors represented more than 74% of all classified bankruptcy proceedings.
Professional, scientific and technical activities recorded 10 bankruptcies, while administrative and support services accounted for eight.
There were seven cases in real estate activities and five each in accommodation and food services, and information and communication.
Road freight transport particularly affected
A more detailed breakdown by business activity showed that road freight transport recorded the highest number of bankruptcies, with 18 cases.
Construction work involving the erection of buildings ranked second with nine bankruptcies, followed by property development projects with eight and the manufacture of metal structures and components with six.
Other activities repeatedly appearing in the statistics included the wholesale trade of grain, seeds and animal feed, iron casting, electrical installation work, agricultural machinery sales, food retailing and transport agency services.
These sectors are often exposed to high operating costs, strong working-capital requirements, thin margins and payment delays.
Mazovia leads regional bankruptcy statistics
Mazovia recorded the highest number of corporate bankruptcies in the first half of 2026.
A total of 55 proceedings were announced in the region, representing 26.7% of all cases nationwide.
Silesia and Greater Poland each recorded 25 bankruptcies, while Lower Silesia reported 21.
There were 11 cases in Pomerania and 10 each in the Opole and Subcarpathian provinces.
The lowest numbers were recorded in Podlaskie, with one bankruptcy, Lubuskie with three and Kuyavia-Pomerania with four.
The regional figures show absolute numbers and do not take into account the number of companies operating in each province. They should not therefore be interpreted as a direct ranking of bankruptcy risk per business.
Among individual cities, Warsaw recorded by far the highest number of bankruptcies, with 42 cases.
Poznań followed with 11, while Wrocław, Kraków and Gdańsk each recorded six.
There were four cases in Lublin and three each in several cities, including Katowice, Rzeszów, Zielona Góra and Kędzierzyn-Koźle.
Low bankruptcy numbers do not signal an end to business distress
The data for the first half of 2026 show that traditional bankruptcy is becoming a less common route for businesses facing serious financial difficulties.
Companies are increasingly attempting to preserve their operations through restructuring, while sole traders often close their businesses before entering consumer bankruptcy.
The stabilisation of formal corporate bankruptcies at around 200 cases per half-year may therefore create the impression that the financial situation of businesses is improving.
Broader insolvency data indicate, however, that liquidity problems and difficulties servicing debt continue to affect several thousand entities.
The greatest pressure remains concentrated in industries characterised by high operating costs, substantial demand for working capital, low margins and frequent delays in receiving payments.
Manufacturing, retail, construction and transport continue to be among the sectors most exposed to these risks.
