Information Releases

Japan’s Business Failures in January 2019

(Released by TEIKOKU DATABANK, LTD.)
There were 694 bankruptcies, the first year-on-year increase in two months.
Liabilities totaled 172,356 million yen, the first year-on-year increase in three months.

Highlight and Outstanding Feature

• ■There were 694 bankruptcies, the first such increase in two months, marking a double-digit year-on-year increase for the first time in one year and three months since October 2017, when it increased by 10.1% year-on-year.
• ■Total liabilities came to 172,356 million yen, up 71.5% year-on-year, due to the occurrence of two bankruptcies amounting to 10,000 million yen or more.
• ■By industry, the number of bankruptcies increased year-on-year in five of seven industries. The number of bankruptcies in the retail industry (158 bankruptcies, up 17.9% year-on-year) grew for the first time in two months, and the figure in the service industry (179 bankruptcies, up 30.7% year-on-year) saw an increase for four consecutive months.
• ■In terms of primary cause, recession-induced bankruptcies numbered 544, comprising 78.4% of the total.
• ■In terms of scale, bankruptcies totaling less than 50 million yen numbered 420 (up 13.5% year-on-year) and comprised 60.5% of the total.
• ■By region, seven of nine regions experienced year-on-year increases. Bankruptcies in Kinki (183 bankruptcies, up 10.2% year-on-year) marked an increase for the first time in two months. Kyushu (60 bankruptcies) showed a 50.0% year-on-year increase.
• ■There were 20 bankruptcies caused by a labor shortage (up 66.7% year-on-year), marking the sixth consecutive month of year-on-year increase.
• ■The largest amount of liabilities was 45,000 million yen posted by Emerald Green Club (Civil Rehabilitation Act, Tokyo).
• ■Cybele Co., Ltd. (Civil Rehabilitation Act, Yamagata) listed on TSE JASDAQ went bankrupt, meaning there was a bankruptcy of a listed company for the first time in seven months since June 2018.