TOKYO, Feb 12 (NNN-NHK) – A total of 546 companies in Japan went bankrupt in Jan, rising for the ninth straight month, according to a recent survey by a credit research company.
The reading marked a year-on-year increase of 13.3 percent, and increased for Jan, for the first time in three years, compared with the same month of the previous year, Japan’s Teikoku Databank Ltd. said, in its online report.
By industry, the number of bankruptcies grew year-on-year in four of seven industries, especially those in the service sector and food-related businesses, according to the report.
Business failures in the service industry went up 19.2 percent to 143, compared to the same month last year, increasing for 11 consecutive months, it said.
In terms of business size, the number of bankruptcies of small- and medium-sized enterprises increased, while companies with liabilities of 10 billion yen (76.09 million U.S. dollars) or more, reported zero bankruptcies for the first time in eight months.
According to the survey, the total amount of liabilities came to 50,769 million yen, down 25.3 percent year-on-year.
Starting from Feb, bankruptcies resulting from wage hikes may appear, Teikoku Databank predicted. (1 U.S. dollar equals 131.43 Japanese yen)– NNN-NHK
