Jun 29, 2020 - Economy & Business

Global corporate defaults have already surpassed those in 2019

Dion Rabouin, author of Markets

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

A total of 119 companies have defaulted on debt so far this year, meaning that in just over five months there have been more corporate defaults than the full year 2019, S&P Global reported Friday.

What they're saying: "Both Europe and other developed regions have seen a considerable increase in defaults compared with previous years and have either matched or surpassed their full year tallies in 2017, 2018, and 2019," Sudeep Kesh, head of S&P Global Credit Markets Research, said in a press release.

The big picture: The U.S. has led the way with 78 defaults so far this year and that was before the announcement of Chesapeake Energy's bankruptcy filing on Sunday.

  • With 16 defaults so far in 2020, Europe has surpassed its full year 2019 and 2018 tallies of 15 and 13, respectively.

Go deeper: Corporate debt issuance has already topped $1 trillion in 2020

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