Swedish Bankruptcies Soar as Housing Crunch Hits Builders
- The number of firms going under rose by 47% last month
- One in five filing for bankruptcy in January were builders
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The number of Swedish bankruptcies soared to the highest level in at least a decade in January, as construction companies come under pressure from an ongoing housing-market rout.
The number of companies filing for bankruptcy increased by 47% from a year earlier in January, to 622, according to credit reference agency UC. The data highlights the effects of Sweden’s worst housing-price slump in three decades, which has contributed to a surge in defaults in the construction sector, with 130 builders filing for bankruptcy last month.