5.11.2024 valid documentation

Basic data of the statistics

Data description

Instigated bankruptcy cases or pending restructuring proceedings refer to enterprises, corporations or natural persons which have filed for bankruptcy or restructuring during a reference period. Business restructuring cases concluded refer to cases concluded in district courts. Closed bankruptcies refer to bankruptcy proceedings concluded in district courts. In addition to restructuring petitions, statistics are compiled on business restructuring cases handled by district courts. The number of personnel refers to the number of staff-years in the enterprises for which a bankruptcy or restructuring petition has been filed.

Several creditors can file a bankruptcy or business restructuring petition against the same enterprise during the year. The number of petitions is always higher than the number of instigated bankruptcy or pending restructuring cases in these statistics.

When petition filed is recorded as instigated bankruptcy case or a pending business restructuring case, any new petitions concerning the same enterprise in the next 12 months will not be included in the statistics. Other petitions concerning the same enterprise or corporation received during the calendar year are only visible in the statistics in cases concluded.

The statistics concerning closed bankruptcies or concluded restructuring proceedings describe a different population than bankruptcy or restructuring proceedings initiated. Cases concluded include cases instituted already before the statistical reference year and correspondingly, part of the pending cases during the statistical reference year are concluded only in future years.

The data by area on single-establishment enterprises are based on the municipality of location of the establishment. The location of establishments also determines the area for those multiple-establishment enterprises whose activities are all located in the same municipality. Enterprises operating in several municipalities are classified, as before, according to their municipality of domicile. In other cases, data on the area are determined by the municipality of domicile of the debtor. The data concerning enterprises’ establishments and municipalities of domicile are obtained from Statistics Finland’s Business Register. In the statistics published prior to 2004, data on area were always based on the municipality of domicile of the enterprise.

Starting from July 2022, a new form of business restructuring has become possible: early business restructuring.
Petitions for early business restructuring can be filed even before actual insolvency. In the middle of early business restructuring, normal restructuring proceedings can be introduced. The statistics release the number of all business restructuring proceedings, and a breakdown of the number of early business restructuring proceedings.

Statistical presentation

The main data content of the statistics on bankruptcies and business restructuring proceedings relates to the numbers of bankruptcy and restructuring petitions and the enterprises they concern in the whole of Finland. The numbers are classified according to the jurisdictions processing the petitions, the decisions made by the courts and the location, industry and legal form of the enterprises concerned in the petitions. The main data content of the statistics on bankruptcies and business restructuring proceedings relates to the numbers of bankruptcy and restructuring petitions and the enterprises they concern in the whole of Finland. The numbers are classified according to the jurisdictions processing the petitions, the decisions made by the courts and the location, industry and legal form of the enterprises concerned in the petitions.

Statistical population

For instigated bankruptcies, the population of the statistics is bankruptcy petitions filed with district courts.

For closed bankruptcies, the population of the statistics is bankruptcy petitions decided by district courts.
In respect of pending restructuring proceedings, the population of the statistics is business restructuring petitions filed with district courts.

In terms of concluded business restructuring cases, the population of the statistics is business restructuring cases decided by district courts.

Statistical unit

The central observation units (pending restructuring case and concluded restructuring case) are legal cases. It is a question of cases brought before district courts and cases decided there.

The central observation units (instigated bankruptcy and closed bankruptcy) are legal cases. It is a question of cases brought before district courts and cases decided there.

In respect of instigated bankruptcy case or pending restructuring cases, the enterprise is also an observational unit. Although an instigated bankruptcy or pending restructuring case is, on the one hand, a legal case, it is also a question of an enterprise (the same enterprise is in the statistics only once for instigated bankruptcy or pending restructuring cases regardless of the number of the petitions filed against it). For closed bankruptcy or concluded restructuring cases, the enterprise is not an observational unit of the statistics in a similar manner.

The petition directed at the enterprise is primarily identified from the data by means of the Business ID. Secondary means of identification are the name of the enterprise or possible identification data of the entrepreneur or a combination of them (e.g. name or personal identity code). The register data on which the statistics are based include all restructuring petitions filed during the year. Background data to enterprises formed from register data are primarily combined with the Business ID.

Unit of measure

EUR 1,000, per cent and the number of personnel as measured in full-time equivalents are used as the units of measure in the database tables of the statistics.

Time coverage

As concerns pending restructuring cases, the statistics start from the beginning of 2003. This applies to both annual and monthly data. A monthly time series is published on the number of bankruptcy petitions starting from 1986.

The statistics on closed bankruptcy or concluded restructuring cases start from 2009. These are annual statistics and the published data are final.

Frequency of dissemination

The data on instigated bankruptcy cases are published monthly.
The data on closed bankruptcy cases are published annually.
The data on pending restructuring cases are published quarterly.
The data on concluded business restructuring cases are published annually.

Concepts

Bankrupt

In statistics, the term bankrupt refers to enterprises, corporations or natural persons for whom a bankruptcy petition has been filed.

Bankrupt's estate

This legal form is used if a bankrupt's estate requests and is given a Business ID. Otherwise the legal form of an enterprise does not change in connection with a bankruptcy.

Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy is an insolvency proceeding covering all the liabilities of the debtor, where the assets of the debtor are used in payment of the claims in bankruptcy. At the beginning of the bankruptcy the debtor loses authority over the assets. The court appoints an estate administrator to administer the bankruptcy estate and the assets of the debtor. The assets are liquidated and used in payment of the debts.

Bankruptcy petitioner

The court shall make the order of bankruptcy. The bankruptcy petition can be made by a creditor or the debtor. In statistics, the bankruptcies where the petitioner is a shareholder of a decedent's estate are often classified separately from other voluntary bankruptcies, i.e. bankruptcies where the petitioner is the debtor.

Bankruptcy proceedings closed with a final decree

In Statistics Finland's statistics on bankruptcies, bankruptcy proceedings closed with a final decree refer to bankruptcy proceedings which have been concluded in a district court with a final decree.

Bankruptcy proceedings initiated by a creditor

Bankruptcy proceedings which have been initiated by a creditor.

Business restructuring

A new Act on Business Restructuring entered into force on 8 February 1993. The purpose of the Act is to ameliorate the situation of enterprises in financial difficulties.

Business restructuring is an alternative to bankruptcy. The proceedings aim at securing the continuation of the operations of a viable enterprise. It is at the court of justice's discretion to decide whether the enterprise would be viable after the restructuring.

Closed bankruptcy

In Statistics Finland's statistics on bankruptcies, a closed bankruptcy refers to bankruptcy proceedings that have been finalised in a District Court.

Early business restructuring

Early business restructuring is a form of business restructuring, for which petitions can filed when there is risk of insolvency.

If an enterprise is found to be insolvent in the middle of the proceedings, the proceedings can be resumed as a normal business restructuring case.

Instigated bankruptcy case

In Statistics Finland statistics on bankruptcies, instigated bankruptcy cases refer to bankruptcy petitions filed during the calendar year by enterprises, corporations, estates of deceased persons or private individuals. The first bankruptcy petition filed in the calendar year is recorded in the statistics as an instigated bankruptcy case.

Several creditors can file a bankruptcy petition against the same enterprise during the year. The number of petitions is always higher than the number of instigated bankruptcy cases in these statistics.

Job endangered by bankruptcy

Jobs endangered by bankruptcy refer to the number of jobs in enterprises or corporations for which a bankruptcy petition has been filed during the calendar year.

If the personnel number is unknown, the default number of one is applied.

Pending restructuring cases

In Statistics Finland statistics, pending restructuring cases refer to restructuring petitions concerning enterprises, corporations, estates of deceased persons or private individuals filed during the calendar year.

The first business structuring petition filed in the calendar year is recorded in the statistics as a pending restructuring case. Several creditors may file a business restructuring petition concerning the same enterprise during a year, but only the first petition is recorded in the statistics as a pending restructuring case. The number of petitions is always higher than the number of pending restructuring cases in these statistics.

Accuracy, reliability and timeliness

Overall accuracy

The statistics on bankruptcies and business restructuring proceedings, including both instigated and concluded cases, are statistics based on the (register) data produced from the case management system of district courts. The statistics describe the examined phenomenon as it is stored in the system on which the statistics are based. The main sources of error in the statistics are possible errors in the basic data or errors caused in the processing of the data.

A key means of assessing the accuracy of the data is to examine statistical data relative to the source data. Another way is to examine quarterly or annual data relative to previous quarters or years.

Timeliness

The data on instigated bankruptcy cases are published monthly approximately two to three weeks from the end of the month in which they were instigated.

The data on pending restructuring cases are published monthly approximately two to three weeks from the end of the month in which they were instigated.

The statistics on concluded cases are released yearly approximately six months from the end of the statistical reference year.
The release dates can be found in Statistics Finland's release calendar.

Punctuality

There are no delays in releasing the data. The data have been published on the days indicated in the release calendar.

Data revision

As regards instigated cases, the data become revised as a result of reviews and corrections. As a rule, the figures are corrected already during the next statistical month. The changes caused by the corrections are small in terms of total numbers and they are not significant in forming the overall image of the occurrence.

Comparability

Comparability - geographical

The statistics are comparable regionally for the entire time series.

Comparability - over time

The time series of the statistics are mostly comparable from one year to the next. The figures are not, however, fully comparable. The total number of instigated bankruptcies or restructuring proceedings has not changed on the annual or quarterly level, only the data on main industry and legal form have been compiled differently than before.

Coherence - cross domain

Monthly data (instigated bankruptcy proceedings), quarterly data (pending restructuring cases) and annual data (closed bankruptcy and concluded restructuring cases) released in the statistics are produced from the same statistical data in different processes. The above-mentioned statistics describe the same subject from different perspectives and are thus not coherent with each other.

Coherence - internal

The statistics on instigated cases and concluded cases (annual statistics) are not fully congruent internally. The above-mentioned statistics describe the same occurrence from different viewpoints. The statistics on instigated cases show the number of enterprises for which a petition has been filed during the year. The statistics on concluded cases present the number of cases concluded by district courts during the year.

Thus, the population of the above-mentioned statistics is different, the one describing the number of enterprises, the other the number of legal cases. Because several petitions or other cases may be directed to one enterprise during the year, the number of petitions presented in the annual statistics (concluded) is always higher than the number of the enterprises concerned.

Source data and data collections

Source data

The statistics on bankruptcies and business restructuring proceedings are based on register data derived from the district courts' case management system (Tuomas). The basic data are received monthly from the Legal Register Centre.

The enterprise data used in the compilation of the statistics derive from Statistics Finland’s Business Register, the data are updated monthly in connection with the forming of the statistical data.

Data collection

The data are received once a month as a line transfer from the Legal Register Centre. The delivery of the data and the practices of the following year are agreed on once a year (towards the end of the year).

Frequency of data collection

The basic data are collected once a month.

Methods

Data compilation

The data received from the Legal Register Centre are processed by month according to the same procedure. Data from Statistics Finland’s business statistics system are combined with the data. Possible shortcomings in the basic data are primarily complemented with data obtained from the business statistics system.

Data validation

The data are validated in connection with the compilation of the statistics by means of established review routines.

Principles and outlines

Contact organisation

Statistics Finland

Contact organisation unit

Economic Statistics

Legal acts and other agreements

The compilation of statistics is guided by the Statistics Act. The Statistics Act contains provisions on collection of data, processing of data and the obligation to provide data. Besides the Statistics Act, the Data Protection Act and the Act on the Openness of Government Activities are applied to processing of data when producing statistics. 

Statistics Finland compiles statistics in line with the EU’s regulations applicable to statistics, which steer the statistical agencies of all EU Member States. 
Bankruptcies comply with the following regulations:

  • Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European business statistics
  • Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1197

Further information: Statistical legislation 

Confidentiality - policy

The data protection of data collected for statistical purposes is guaranteed in accordance with the requirements of the Statistics Act (280/2004), the Act on the Openness of Government Activities (621/1999), the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and the Data Protection Act (1050/2018). The data materials are protected at all stages of processing with the necessary physical and technical solutions. Statistics Finland has compiled detailed directions and instructions for confidential processing of the data. Employees have access only to the data essential for their duties. The premises where unit-level data are processed are not accessible to outsiders. Members of the personnel have signed a pledge of secrecy upon entering the service. Violation of data protection is punishable. 

Further information: Data protection | Statistics Finland (stat.fi) 

Confidentiality - data treatment

According to Section 13 of the Statistics Act (280/2004), Statistics Finland may, on the basis of a separate application for licence to use statistical data, release data for scientific studies and statistical surveys without data enabling direct identification. The Statistics Act prohibits the use of data collected for statistical purposes in an investigation, surveillance, legal proceedings, administrative decision-making or other similar handling of a matter concerning the enterprise.

Release policy

Statistics Finland publishes new statistical data at 8 am on weekdays in its web service. The release times of statistics are given in advance in the release calendar available in the web service. The data are public after they have been updated in the web service. 

Further information: Publication principles for statistics at Statistics Finland 

Data sharing

Data contained in the statistics on bankruptcies and business restructuring proceedings can be viewed free of charge in the Px-Web service database on Statistics Finland’s website. https://stat.fi/en/statistics/kony#cubes

Accessibility and clarity

Statistical data are published as database tables in the StatFin database. The database is the primary publishing site of data, and new data are updated first there. When releasing statistical data, existing database tables can be updated with new data or completely new database tables can be published.   

In addition to statistical data published in the StatFin database, a release on the key data is usually published in the web service. If the release contains data concerning several reference periods (e.g. monthly and annual data), a review bringing together these data is published in the web service. Database tables updated at the time of publication are listed both in the release and in the review. In some cases, statistical data can also be published as mere database releases in the StatFin database. No release or review is published in connection with these database releases. 

Releases and database tables are published in three languages, in Finnish, Swedish and English. The language versions of releases may have more limited content than in Finnish.   

Information about changes in the publication schedules of releases and database tables and about corrections are given as change releases in the web service. 

Data revision - policy

Revisions – i.e. improvements in the accuracy of statistical data already published – are a normal feature of statistical production and result in improved quality of statistics. The principle is that statistical data are based on the best available data and information concerning the statistical phenomenon. On the other hand, the revisions are communicated as transparently as possible in advance. Advance communication ensures that the users can prepare for the data revisions. 

The reason why data in statistical releases become revised is often caused by the data becoming supplemented. Then the new, revised statistical figure is based on a wider information basis and describes the phenomenon more accurately than before. 

Revisions of statistical data may also be caused by the calculation method used, such as annual benchmarking or updating of weight structures. Changes of base years and used classifications may also cause revisions to data. 

Quality assurance

Quality management requires comprehensive guidance of activities. The quality management framework of the field of statistics is the European Statistics Code of Practice (CoP). The quality criteria of Official Statistics of Finland are also compatible with the European Statistics Code of Practice. 

Further information: Quality management | Statistics Finland (stat.fi) 

User access

Data are released to all users at the same time. Statistical data may only be handled at Statistics Finland and information on them may be given before release only by persons involved in the production of the statistics concerned or who need the data of the statistics concerned in their own work before the data are published. 

Further information: Publication principles for statistics 

Unless otherwise separately stated in connection with the product, data or service concerned, Statistics Finland is the producer of the data and the owner of the copyright. The terms of use for statistical data. 

Statistical experts

Mira Kuussaari
Senior Statistician
029 551 3538