Insolvency numbers didn’t skyrocket thanks to pandemic policy, but it couldn’t last forever

Among the many good pieces of policy introduced during the pandemic was a very accommodating set of rules around insolvencies. It was very difficult indeed for a company to collapse in 2020, leading to the peculiar spectre of a recession without a lift in insolvencies.

But as the economy normalises, so do the rules. A rise in court-ordered wind-ups is lifting the rate of insolvencies, albeit not to the level that prevailed in 2019 — not yet at least.

Note: the most recent data in this chart comes from the penultimate week of March, before JobKeeper was whisked away. A further rise in insolvencies is surely yet to come. Watch this space.