The number of bankruptcies in Finland has continued to rise for the past three years, new data shows.

According to Statistics Finland, just over 3,900 companies filed for bankruptcy last year — the largest figure seen since 1996, which came after years of a serious economic crisis.

Last year's bankrupt companies employed around 14,300 people.

StatFin reported that 360 bankruptcy proceedings were initiated in December 2025, or 92 more than the same month the previous year — a 34 percent increase.

The number-crunching agency said that the recent larger wave of bankruptcies began a few years ago. An average of 3,600 companies have filed for bankruptcy annually since 2023. The yearly average during the 2010s was around 2,700 companies.

According to the agency's senior statistician, Mira Kuussaari, last year's annual bankruptcy figure has been higher just three times during the 2000s: during the global financial crisis of 2009, in 2013 and then in 2023, when the current wave of bankruptcies began.

However, the number of employees affected by companies going bust suggests that it is mostly SMEs that are being affected, on average, she explained.

The agency reported that the largest number of firms filing for bankruptcy were in the construction sector — a total of 768.

However, according to Kuusisari, the number of construction companies filing for bankruptcy peaked in 2023.

"In practically all other sectors, the trend has been upward," she said in a press release.