The number of German firms pushed into insolvency rose in the first half of this year at the fastest pace in more than two decades due to the energy crisis, inflation and rising interest rates, a study by credit agency Creditreform showed on Thursday.

There were 8,400 corporate insolvencies in Germany from January to June, up 16.2% from the first half of 2022 and the biggest percentage increase in more than 20 years, Creditreform said.

"The enormous cost burdens caused by excessively high energy and material costs are making an effect," said Creditreform chief economist Patrik-Ludwig Hantzsch.

Other factors that weighed on firms included poor consumer conditions and generous state money distributions during past crises, which made companies too reliant on state funding and meant they didn't adapt their business models to become more efficient until it was too late, the Creditreform note said.

Such a combination backfires on firms and leads to "an economic dead end" in a rising interest rate environment, Hantzsch said.

Creditreform sees a further rise in insolvencies over the rest of the year as high inflation and rising interest rates will keep hampering German businesses.

"The number of bankruptcies could even accelerate in the coming months," Hantzsch summed up.

(Reporting by Klaus Lauer, writing by Andrey Sychev, editing by Susan Fenton)