NZ company liquidations 2025: Highest number of failures since 2010
Tuesday, 3 February 2026
The number of companies that went into liquidation in 2025 was the highest since 2010, credit reporting company Centrix says.
Centrix collects data on loan repayments by households and businesses, and its January figures show there were 2934 liquidations over the course of last year.
The last time company failures were at that level was during the global financial crisis (GFC). There were more than 3000 liquidations each year from 2008 to 2010, and a high of 3431 in 2009.
Centrix chief operating officer Monika Lacey said the last few years had been hard, but compared to the GFC liquidations had lagged and happened more slowly.
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That was likely because the government stimulus pumped into the economy during the Covid era kept some businesses that were struggling going and delayed the inevitable, she said.
“During that era, Inland Revenue also put a handbrake on its collection, but now it is playing catch up and recovering outstanding debt.
“It has added to the financial pressures on some companies, and is another component in the liquidation numbers.”
High interest rates had weighed on consumers, and many small business owners leveraged off their homes to fund their business, she said.
“And the rise in not just interest rates but the costs for everything else due to inflation has made it really tough, so the increase in liquidations was probably coming.”
Construction remained the leading contributor to liquidations with 751 firms liquidated in 2025, up 13% on the previous year, Centrix’s data showed.
The hospitality sector ranked second, recording 376 liquidations, a 50% annual increase, while property and rental companies rounded out the top three with 335 liquidations, up 17%.
But the retail trade, transport and manufacturing sectors also saw liquidations rise 34%, 27% and 12% respectively.
Some high-profile businesses featured in the liquidation ranks last year. They included GrabOne, Smiths City, Medicinal Kiwi, John Ross Architectural Builders, Kitchen Things, Libelle Group, Timeless Events, and Yoyoso Group.
Lacey said the numbers highlighted the ongoing financial stress in these sectors despite improving credit conditions and declining credit defaults.
With the construction and hospitality sectors, it also linked up to consumer confidence as with less spare cashflow people were less willing to do things like go out to dinner or get renovations, she said.
“It’s worth pointing out that the proportion of liquidations in those industries are a small proportion of the sectors, and they are big sectors.
“The number of liquidations in the construction sector represents just 0.9% of all registered companies, so 99.1% of businesses are still functioning.”
Despite the increase, early signs of improvement were emerging, with liquidation trends easing in six of the 19 industry sectors, and agriculture recording an 11% decline in liquidations, she said.
The data on the number of people behind on their loans, mortgages and other credit contracts was a mixed bag.
Consumer arrears and mortgage arrears each rose in December to 12.07% and 1.37% respectively, but both were lower than at the same time the previous year. In the mortgage space, 21,800 accounts were past due.
Credit card arrears were up, but still lower on an annual basis, while vehicle loan, personal loan and buy now pay later arrears were all up in December, and year-on-year.
Demand for credit by businesses was up by 0.7% on the same time last year, but consumer credit demand had increased by 9.4%.
That was driven by stronger mortgage applications, with lending for new mortgages up 14.3%, and personal loans, which could be reflective of growing confidence in the housing market, Lacey said.
“A lot of the mortgage lending was refinancing, rather than new lending. Consumers are taking advantage of the lower rates and shopping around, so there’s a bit of competition there.
“That’s providing a bit of mortgage relief, and it will help to put more cash in people’s pockets and drive confidence, and confidence was lacking before.”
Overall, the economic indicators were getting better, and the tide was turning, she said.
“The question is how quickly will the recovery come and what will it look like? But sentiment is improving, and has been since about November.”