Number of receiverships falls by 33% in first 9 months of 2026 – Deloitte insolvency figures
- 632 insolvencies in the first nine months of 2026; consistent with previous Q3 YTD periods.
- Deloitte forecasting c. 850 in total for 2026, in line with previous years.
- Creditor and Revenue enforcement accounts for increased activity in Court appointed liquidations with alternative lenders accounting for the majority of receivership activity.
- The hospitality sector is continuing to experience a drop in insolvency rates; this trend predates the VAT rate cut for the hospitality sector on 1 July.
- There is a small reduction in the number of insolvencies for companies in the transport sector.
- 290% increase in IT sector insolvencies in 2026 Q3 YTD compared to this time last year.
- Retail insolvency activity has also seen a significant increase of 54% compared with the same period in 2025.
There were 632 insolvencies in the first nine months of 2026, according to the latest data released by Deloitte Ireland. This is consistent with previous Q3 YTD periods in 2025 and 2024 (618 and 650).
To date in 2026, there were 203 in Q3, 216 in Q2 and 213 in Q1.
Deloitte is forecasting around 850 insolvencies in total for 2026. This is largely in line with previous years (812 in 2025, 875 in 2024).
Receiverships decreased by 33% compared to this time last year (68 in Q3 YTD compared to 102 in Q3 2025 YTD; 28 in Q3).
There have been no appointments by the Pillar Banks in 2026, as alternative lenders continue to dominate the market.
Court liquidations continue to increase, growing by 26% in Q3 YTD. Of the 107 appointments in the first 9 months of this year, 50 (47%) were Revenue led petitions, 48 (45%) were Company led and 9 (8%) were creditor led.
The majority of insolvencies were Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidations or CVLs (423/67% in Q3 YTD).
Just 4% of insolvencies were Small Companies Administrative Rescue Process (SCARP), showing it has ongoing low levels of uptake.
The hospitality sector is continuing to experience a drop in insolvency rates, down 22% year-to-date compared to Q3 YTD in 2025.
This trend is not new and predates the VAT rate cut for the hospitality sector on 1 July.
The retail sector has the biggest jump year-to-date in insolvencies (106 Q3 YTD compared with 69 for the same period in 2025), including well documented cases, such as Harvey Nichols and the Born Clothing group.
The IT sector also saw a significant increase year-to-date of 290%. However, this is from a small base of 10 in Q3 YTD 2025.
The services sector had the highest number of insolvencies (219 Q3 YTD). Services include real estate, technical and professional services, fitness and beauty, and financial services.
The average age for a business going insolvent was 14 years for the first 9 months of 2026.
Hospitality had the lowest average age of a business going insolvent at 10.8 years and IT at 10.9 years. Wholesale had the highest average age at 19 years.
Companies entering examinership had an average age of 19.3 years which was the highest across the insolvency types, and the lowest was SCARP (11.7 years).
Leinster continues to account for the highest number of insolvencies (476/632 as of Q3 YTD; 155 in Q3). In 2026 to date, Munster experienced 96, while Connacht had 48 and Ulster 12.
“There is consistency in the trends highlighted by Deloitte’s insolvency figures: alternative lenders are continuing to be key players in Receivership activity along with creditor enforcement in court liquidations activity,”
said James Anderson, Turnaround & Restructuring Partner, Deloitte Ireland
While insolvency levels overall are in line with the past few years, it is still at a high level. This points to ongoing challenges businesses face in Ireland. As the energy market is likely to face ongoing instability due to global conflicts, energy costs for businesses will likely persist and even rise in the next year. This comes as auto-pension enrolment comes into effect and
discussions about raising the minimum wage continue. It is interesting we are not seeing these increased costs forcing more businesses into closures.
It is not yet clear what there will be in Budget 2027 that will help businesses in Ireland survive another challenging period, despite a clear focus on growing Domestic Direct Investment (DDI) alongside
FDI.
This is the first set of insolvency figures seen since the 1 July VAT rate cut for the hospitality sector came into effect. Despite the decrease in this quarter’s hospitality insolvencies, this continues a trend that began before the rate cut. The following quarterly insolvency figures will be critical to assess how effective this cut was.
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Deloitte Ireland Communications
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Georgina Francis
Deloitte Ireland Communications
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