Information Releases

Japan’s Business Failures in February 2019

(Released by TEIKOKU DATABANK, LTD.)
There were 620 bankruptcies, marking the second consecutive month of year-on-year increase.
Liabilities totaled 218,156 million yen, the second consecutive month of year-on-year increase.

Highlight and Outstanding Feature

• ■There were 620 bankruptcies (up 4.0% year-on-year), marking the second consecutive month of year-on-year increase.
• ■Total liabilities were up 145.8% year-on-year at 218,156 million yen, due to the large-scale bankruptcy of MT Picture Display Co., Ltd. (liabilities of approximately 105,000 million yen, Osaka, special liquidation).
• ■By industry, the number of bankruptcies increased year-on-year in four of seven industries. Although the number of bankruptcies in the manufacturing industry was down to 68 , this figure was up 19.3% year-on-year from the same month of the last year, when there were the fewest bankruptcies (57) since 2000. In the retail industry (143 bankruptcies), bankruptcies of food and beverage retailers and eating and drinking establishments were up 12.6% year-on-year against the background of soaring raw material costs and labor costs, etc.
• ■In terms of primary cause, recession-induced bankruptcies numbered 510, comprising 82.3% of the total.
• ■In terms of scale, bankruptcies totaling less than 50 million yen numbered 385 (up 0.5% year-on-year) and comprised 62.1% of the total.
• ■By region, three of nine regions experienced year-on-year increases. In Tohoku (35 bankruptcies), the number of bankruptcies in the retail industry and the service industry were up 29.6% year-on-year against the background of sluggish consumer spending and other factors.
• ■There were 15 bankruptcies caused by a labor shortage (up 66.7% year-on-year). This marked the seventh consecutive month of year-on-year increase.
• ■The largest amount of liabilities was posted by MT Picture Display Co., Ltd. (Osaka, special liquidation) with liabilities of 105,000 million yen.