Company insolvencies in England and Wales last month were 17% higher than a year earlier, government figures showed on Friday.

The Insolvency Service said 1,967 companies were registered insolvent, according to the non-seasonally adjusted data, up from 1,688 a year earlier.

"The increase in company insolvencies has been driven mostly by creditors' voluntary liquidations, while compulsory liquidation and administration numbers have increased from historically low numbers seen during and immediately after the pandemic, returning to close to 2019 levels," the Insolvency Service said.

(Reporting by David Milliken; Editing by Sachin Ravikumar)