11 May 2026
Winding Up Applications
April 2026 NZ Liquidation Winding Up Applications keep the ball rolling on the continued highs of the last 10 years with the largest 4 months to start to year.
Of note the applications for the month were slightly behind 2024's figures for April, this was driven in 2024 by a bumper month for non IRD creditors chasing debtors. IRD however have continue their above past years enforcement levels and have yet to slow up.
At this stage in the year historically Winding Up Applications have levelled out somewhat till they once again jump in July to peak in November. We remain on track to beat out 2025 for total applications for the year. We will continue to see more and more court appointed liquidations increasing their share of the total insolvencies.
We expect that by June this year there will be more winding up applications in 6 months than what we saw in the 2021 and 2022 years.
Company Insolvencies – Liquidations, Receiverships, and Voluntary Administrations
Another month and another high for the last 15 years. While not up to the levels seen during the GFC, emphasising that this downturn is longer rather than short and sharp, we continue to bump up against the shoulder year (2008 & 2011) appointment figures.
Solvent liquidations remain below their long-term average of 11% overall, as there appear to be less cashed up companies looking to wind up. Insolvent shareholder liquidations and court liquidations both remain above their long-term shares of the total appointments taking up the lost solvent share.
With another month of elevated levels of Winding Up Applications the number of court liquidations is expected to remain high.
Personal Insolvencies – Bankruptcy, No Asset Procedure and Debt Repayment Orders.
March saw more of the same on the personal insolvency front with little change. At this point we continue to expect more of the same with only minor rises and drops.
Where to from here?
After a big first third 2026 looks to be another big year unless something drastically changes. The stresses on the economy are not going away.
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