Judicial recovery processes grew 5.5% in 2025 compared to the previous year and reached the highest number of companies since the beginning of the historical series, in 2012 – there were 2,466, an increase of 12.9% compared to 2024. The information was released by Serasa Experian.
“In 2025, judicial recovery continued as an instrument for balance adjustment in a more selective credit environment. Despite monthly fluctuations, the annual level advanced and remained above the historical standard, compatible with the renegotiation of liabilities in the face of still high financial costs and unequal demand between sectors”, said the chief economist at Serasa Experian, Camila Abdelmalack, in a note.
In the monthly reading, 2025 brought numbers above the historical trend of 53 judicial recovery processes per month. In relation to the total National Register of Legal Entities (CNPJ), the movement was similar: the number of companies involved repeatedly exceeded the long-term average of 106 monthly CNPJs.
“This departure from the structural trend suggests that the pressure on companies’ cash flow – especially in the most credit-sensitive segments – remained significant, leading more businesses to resort to the judicial restructuring mechanism,” said Abdelmalack.
Bankruptcy filings went in the opposite direction to judicial recovery processes. In 2025, 698 CNPJs were registered with bankruptcy requests, which represents a drop of 19.0% compared to 2024, and a much lower value than that observed in 2012 (1,810 CNPJs). The number of bankruptcy proceedings also decreased in 2025 compared to 2024, by 15.5%, to 686.
According to Serasa Experian, the bankruptcy filing was often used by creditors as an instrument to induce debt payment by debtor companies, and there are currently more appropriate alternatives to achieve this objective, reducing the need to resort to the bankruptcy filing as a means of collection.
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