Corporate insolvencies in Germany rose by 22.1% in 2023 compared to the previous year, data showed on Friday, as an economic slowdown, high inflation and interest rates pushed more companies into bankruptcy.

Some 17,814 companies filed for bankruptcy last year, with creditors' corporate bankruptcy claims amounting to some 26.6 billion euros, federal statistics office data showed.

The number was up 5% compared to pre-pandemic year of 2019 but is still far below the 32,687 insolvencies filed in 2009 during the global financial crisis, data showed.

Some well-known firms, especially in the fashion retail sector, announced bankruptcy last year, such as Peek & Cloppenburg, Gerry Weber , Reno, Salamander and Goertz.

Germany's DIHK Chambers of Industry and Commerce said more bankruptcies were expected this year as a survey showed a quarter of companies struggling with increasing bad debt.

"Unfortunately, a further increase in corporate insolvencies can be expected in the coming months," said DIHK mid-sized business expert Marc Evers.

In February, the number of regular insolvencies rose by 18.1% on the year.

Europe's biggest economy shrank by 0.3% last year, dragged down by persistent inflation, high energy prices and weak foreign demand. (Reporting by Rene Wagner and Riham Alkousaa, Editing by Madeline Chambers)