Last year 6,303 companies went bankrupt in the Netherlands, a drop of 22% on 2014, credit agency Graydon said on Tuesday.

The company said it expects the bankruptcy rate to continue to decline this year and to approach the 2008 total, when 4,900 firms went bust.

Most companies which closed down were involved in wholesaling and the retail trade, Graydon said. Financial services firms and construction companies were in second and third place.

‘The decline was apparent in the first half of last year and the second half figures confirmed that view,’ said spokesman Frans van den Heuvel in a statement. ‘In 2014, there was a 20% drop in the number of bankruptcies, so the trend has intensified somewhat.’