German corporate bankruptcies rose in 2009 for the first time in six years, with filings up 15.5 percent on the year in December in the wake of recession, government data showed Tuesday. The Federal Statistical Office said 2,583 companies filed for bankruptcy protection in the last month of 2009. The year-on-year increase compared with a smaller 6.9 percent rise in November, but was in line with big increases in the two previous months, AP reported. Corporate bankruptcies were up 11.6 percent for the whole of 2009 over the previous year, with a total of 32,687 bankruptcy filings registered. That was the first time since 2003 that the number of companies going bust rose from the previous year, the statistical office said. Overall, bankruptcies still fell short of the 2003 total of 39,320.
