The number that should stop the recovery talk
The hospitality squeeze has stopped being a margin problem and become a structural failure. Credit bureau Centrix confirmed on 1 September 2026 that 422 hospitality companies entered liquidation over the past year, up 42%, while another 2,900 businesses ceased trading altogether. Roughly 3,000 gone in twelve months.
The single sharpest data point is the ratio. Hospitality’s insolvency rate now runs at 3.3 times that of the average New Zealand business. In September 2024 a Hospitality NZ and Centrix report put that figure at 2.3 times. The sector is not stabilising. It is falling away from the rest of the economy.
The breakdown is uglier still. Restaurant…