Cyprus records EU’s second-steepest quarterly fall in bankruptcy declarations

Nicosia, Cyprus. Cyprus recorded the European Union’s second-steepest quarterly decline in business bankruptcy declarations in the second quarter of 2026, according to Eurostat. The statistical office cautioned that the percentage was amplified by the low number of cases on the island.

Bankruptcy declarations

Business bankruptcy declarations in Cyprus fell by 41.7 per cent from the first quarter of 2026, behind only Malta, where declarations declined by 50 per cent. Slovakia recorded the third-largest drop, at 33.5 per cent.

The decline followed a 9.1 per cent increase in Cyprus during the first quarter of 2026 compared with the final quarter of 2025.

Eurostat said the absolute number of bankruptcy declarations in smaller countries, including Cyprus and Malta, is low, meaning relatively small changes in cases can result in large quarterly percentage movements.

European trend

Across the EU, bankruptcy declarations increased by 5.7 per cent in the second quarter, while they rose by 6.9 per cent in the euro area. The EU figure reached its highest level since the first quarter of 2019.

The increases followed declines of 2.4 per cent in the EU and 2.3 per cent in the euro area during the first quarter.

Estonia recorded the largest quarterly increase, at 31.8 per cent, followed by Greece at 31.6 per cent and Croatia at 20.5 per cent.

Among larger EU economies, bankruptcy filings rose by 3.2 per cent in France and 2 per cent in Spain. Italy recorded a marginal decline of 0.5 per cent.

Business registrations

Cyprus also recorded growth in new business registrations, although the pace slowed. Registrations rose by 1.4 per cent from the previous quarter, compared with growth of 4.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2026.

The island moved against the wider European trend, as new business registrations fell by 0.5 per cent across the EU and by 0.1 per cent in the euro area.