For visitors to Vinexpo, the news that 211 French wineries went bust last year might not raise much of an eyebrow. After all, France has approximately 27,000 enterprises of this kind, and nearly 26,800 apparently remained financially intact. However, the 2024 figure was 55% higher than 2023's 136 - a 55% increase compared to the previous year, according to the latest "Study on Business Insolvencies and Protection Measures in France" by Altares / Dun & Bradstreet. For comparison, the report notes that bankruptcies across the entire French economy increased by ‘only’ 17%.
The situation is particularly alarming in southwest France. Over half (116) the national bankruptcies occurred in the Aquitaine region, including 103 in Gironde. Languedoc-Roussillon also saw a sharp rise of 144%, albeit at a lower overall level, with 39 cases recorded.
In an interview with Vitisphere, Thierry Millon, head of the Altares study, emphasized that the insolvency situation is worsening from already high levels, with no signs of improvement in any region. In fact, conditions deteriorated further in the last quarter of the year, with 62 insolvencies in the final three months of 2024, a 59% increase compared to 39 cases in the same period of 2023.
Positive: Increase in protection measures outpaces liquidations
Millon sees positive signs in the relatively high number of preventive protection measures. In France, this legal instrument exists alongside the two traditional insolvency procedures—restructuring and liquidation. It is available to businesses facing financial difficulties but not yet insolvent, allowing them to remain operational—as recently demonstrated by Domaine Tariquet.
While these protection measures account for only 2% of insolvency cases in the overall French economy, they represent 14% in the wine sector.
Looking at the different types of insolvencies in the French industry, the increase in the use of protection measures is clear. In 2024, 47 companies were liquidated, an increase of nine percent compared to 43 in 2023. The number of restructurings following a payment default, however, rose by 65 percent to 134 cases, up from 80 in the previous year. Meanwhile, 30 companies opted for protection measures, compared to 12 in 2023, an increase of 150 percent.
According to Abellan of Vitisphere, this reflects an industry anticipating difficulties and working to overcome them while preserving businesses and jobs.
