Business

Over 750 businesses in South Africa insolvent in 2026

Staff Writer

 ·21 Jul 2026

South African stats body Stats SA has restarted its tracking of insolvencies in the country, revealing that 753 businesses have slipped into this status this year so far.

Stats SA stopped tracking insolvencies in April 2023, when the data releases of the time were split from tracking liquidations and insolvencies to two separate reports.

While data on liquidations continued, data on insolvencies were delayed following a cyber incident at the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development in 2021.

As a result, South Africa has had no data on insolvencies for several years.

However, “with the issue now resolved, the first standalone release of [insolvencies] is being published for the current period,” Stats SA said.

“Users should note that this release does not represent a continuation of the previous series, as there is a break in the time series data between September 2021 and December 2022,” it added.

Insolvencies are also fundamentally different from liquidation.

Liquidation refers to the winding-up of the affairs of a company or close corporation when liabilities exceed assets. This can be done on a voluntary basis or by an order of the court.

While liquidation can result from insolvency, it is not necessarily reflective of such. Legal experts in the field have noted that voluntary liquidations, especially, could reflect standard business activity.

Insolvency, however, refers to an individual or partnership which is unable to pay its debts and is placed under final sequestration.

Stats SA noted that the number of insolvencies it reports does not refer to the number of persons involved, as a partnership which is unable to pay its debt is regarded as one insolvency, irrespective of the number of partners.

Regardless, insolvencies are more reflective of struggling businesses and could be more closely aligned to the broader business environment.

More specifically, rising insolvencies and insolvency risks point to structural pressure in the global and local economy, which businesses would have felt acutely in 2026 with the onset of the Iran war.

Insolvencies in 2026

According to Stats SA, insolvencies in 2026 are tracking lower than those in 2025, with the 61 recorded in June 56.1% lower than the 139 recorded in June 2025.

Insolvencies for the quarter (April 2026 to June 2026) are 27.3% lower year-on-year, while the year-to-date insolvencies (January to June) are 11.1% lower than the year before.

It is worth noting that total insolvencies for 2023, 2024 and 2025 were remarkably high, peaking in 2024.

Each of these years reflects exceptionally harsh conditions for businesses in South Africa—with a common thread of low economic growth and high levels of unemployment throughout.

In 2023, South Africa experienced the worst load shedding on record, which affected the economy as a whole. During this year, the country recorded 1,883 insolvencies.

In 2024, the country continued to face load shedding—although slowing down—and weathered political uncertainty before and after the National Elections. The country recorded 2,105 insolvencies.

2025 was a much calmer year locally, with a notable turn for the better in local economic conditions and sentiment; however, the Trump administration’s tariff war and targeting of South Africa still weighed.

Despite this, the number of insolvencies pulled back significantly, with 1,606 recorded last year.

As with the data on liquidations, the statistics serve as one data point and could indicate different causes.

One reading of the improved insolvency data is that business conditions are improving, and the lower numbers point to happier times.

Another reading could be that there are simply fewer businesses around to become insolvent—an unfortunate outcome of more than a decade of stagnant growth.

When weighed up against Stats SA’s revised liquidations data—where liquidations are accelerating—more negative conclusions can be drawn.