According to seasonally corrected figures, 430 companies filed for bankruptcy in Denmark in December, up 11 per cent from the previous month, the national statistics agency said in a statement.

The number is the highest ever registered since the agency first began keeping such statistics in 1979, it said.

In unadjusted numbers, 544 companies filed for bankruptcy in Denmark last month, up from 490 in November and an increase of 148 per cent year-on-year, the statistics agency said.

The Danish Construction Association meanwhile announced Wednesday that the country's construction sector had registered 715 bankruptcies in 2008, up 63 per cent from the previous year, due to slowing demand.

The construction industry, which accounts for about 11 percent of Danish companies, has been especially hard-hit by the crisis, with more than 19 per cent of all bankruptcies last year affecting the industry, the construction association said in a statement. -- AFP