Japan’s Business Failures in February 2024
(Released by TEIKOKU DATABANK, LTD.)
Number of bankruptcies exceeds that of the same month of the previous year for 22 consecutive months
For February, highest number of bankruptcies in past 10 years
| Bankruptcies |
734 |
| Year-to-Year basis |
+27.9％ |
| Last Year same month |
574 |
| Liabilities |
136,166 million yen |
| Year-to-Year basis |
+35.4％ |
| Last Year same month |
100,546 million yen |
Highlight and Outstanding Feature
- ■There were 734 bankruptcies (574 bankruptcies in the same month of the previous year, up 27.9% year-on-year), marking 22 consecutive months of year-on-year increase. This is 160 more than the same month of the previous year, and the highest for February in 10 years. From April 2023 to February 2024, the cumulative total was 8,011, with the figure exceeding 8,000 bankruptcies as of February for the first time in nine years since fiscal 2014.
- ■Total liabilities were 136,166 million yen (100,546 million yen, up 35.4% year-on-year). This was the third consecutive month of year-on-year growth, and the fourth consecutive year of year-on-year growth for February.
- ■By industry, the number of bankruptcies increased year-on-year in five of seven industries. In terms of the rate of increase, the manufacturing industry (to 88 bankruptcies from 49 in the same month of the previous year, up 79.6%) had the highest rate, rising for 12 consecutive months from a year earlier, to tie the longest ever such period of rise. In the manufacturing industry, bankruptcies of companies involved in “publishing, printing, and related industries” doubled (to 10 from 5 in the same period of the previous year).
- ■By business history, there were 219 bankruptcies of start-up companies, and this figure marked 24 consecutive months of year-on-year increase.
- ■By region, eight of nine regions experienced year-on-year increases. “Tohoku” (to 59 from 34 bankruptcies in the same month last year, up 73.5%) saw a significant increase of more than 50% for the fourth consecutive month. From April 2023 to February 2024, bankruptcies in 39 prefectures exceeded the total number of cases for the full year of fiscal 2022.
- ■There were 16 cases of bankruptcies due to “labor shortage,” surpassing the same month of the previous year for seven consecutive months.
- ■There were 54 bankruptcies due to a “difficulty in finding a successor,” up from the same month of the previous year for the first time in two months.
- ■There were 71 bankruptcies caused by “high prices (inflation),” with this figure remaining at a high level.
Bankruptcy Information TOP