Corporate insolvencies to climb significantly in 2024

In total, the professional services company expects just shy of 30,000 to take place over 2024, with smaller businesses accounting for the lion’s share. The industries most impacted are likely to be hotels and catering, manufacturing, and transport and storage, while the IT and real estate sectors could be impacted to a lesser extent.  

Overall, PwC are forecasting that the UK will be the fourth best performing G7 economy relative to to pre-pandemic levels and, despite the weak growth projected this year, it will still outperform France, Japan and Germany with real GDP around 2.7% higher in 2024 on average relative to 2019 levels.  

However, and despite falls to headline inflation, consumer prices will still be around a quarter higher than in early 2021. Therefore, consumers will continue to readjust their spending based on their priorities and preferences.  

PwC chief economist Barret Kupelian said: “Following the post-pandemic challenges, 2024 will be the year the UK turns a page. Inflation returning closer to normal levels, progress on regional growth and real incomes improving provides optimism for the year ahead, despite the legacy of higher consumer prices and rising housing costs.

“There remain many ‘known unknowns’ in 2024 that can change the trajectory of the UK, such as volatility in global energy prices due to the continued middle eastern conflict and the forthcoming General Election, however, overall, the outlook is far rosier for 2024 than expected twelve months ago.”