Insolvency proceedings (creditors’ voluntary arrangements) filed by Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and self-employed workers have once again reached a record high in the second quarter, increasing by 7.1% compared to the same period in 2024, to 2,642 filings. These insolvency proceedings thus mark their fifth consecutive year of increases for SMEs in the second quarter, dating back to 2020 when filings were partially suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic and fully resumed in 2022.
These figures come from the Cepyme Indicator on the situation of SMEs (Spanish Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Economic Situation Indicator), which is prepared by the Spanish Confederation of Small and Medium Enterprises (CEPYME). According to Francisco Vidal, CEPYME’s Director of Economy, “this is a problem that also affects generational handover and makes it more difficult,” further complicating the survival of the smallest businesses.
Of the 2,642 insolvencies registered, 1,214 correspond to self-employed workers—a 21.9% increase year-on-year, also setting a new record for this group of workers. 1,122 correspond to micro-enterprises (a 0.1% year-on-year increase), 259 to small enterprises (a 17.2% decrease from 2024, the only group where figures declined), and 47 to medium-sized firms (a 25.4% increase).
To put these figures into context, the insolvencies registered in the second quarter of 2025 surpass the number of proceedings registered throughout the entire first half of 2019—the year before the pandemic. Furthermore, this is the highest figure since records began in 2005, exceeding the previous peak in the worst year to date (2013), by 144, when 2,498 SMEs were in a state of insolvency.
