Japan’s Business Failures in 1st Half Year 2023
(Released by TEIKOKU DATABANK, LTD.)
First-half bankruptcies surpass 4,000 for first time in 5 years.
Significantly up 31.6% year-on-year
| Bankruptcies |
4,006 |
| Year-on-Year basis |
＋31.6％ |
| Jan to Jun 2022 |
3,045 |
| Liabilities |
906,584 million yen |
| Year-on-Year basis |
▲48.6％ |
| Jan to Jun 2022 |
1,763,083 million yen |
Highlight and Outstanding Feature
- ■There were 4,006 bankruptcies, in the first half of FY2023 (3,045 in the same period of the previous year, up 31.6% year-on-year), marking the first year-on-year increase in the first half in six years. The number exceeded 4,000 for the first time in five years for the first half of the year, partly because the number of cases exceeded 600 on a monthly basis after recording 800 in March 2023.
- ■Total liabilities were down significantly to 906,584 million yen (1,763,083 million yen, down 48.6%), partly due to the legal restructuring of Marelli Holdings Co., Ltd. in the same period of the previous year. On the other hand, the figure was significantly higher than the previous period (July-December 2022) due to a series of large-scale bankruptcies since March 2023.
- ■By industry, the number of bankruptcies increased year-on-year in all industries for the first time in 14 years. The most bankruptcies were in the service industry (to 958 from 774, up 23.8% year-on-year), and in the retail industry, the number of bankruptcies of restaurants (to 378 from 208) marked the second-highest ever after the first half of 2020 (398), just after the start of the pandemic.
- ■In terms of primary cause, recession-induced bankruptcies numbered 3,197, up year-on-year for the second consecutive year.
- ■By type, the number of bankruptcies grew by more than 900, the largest increase since the first half of 2009.
- ■By size, there were 2,307 bankruptcies of companies with liabilities of less than 50 million yen, and the increase in small-scale bankruptcies was conspicuous.
- ■In terms of business history, bankruptcies of entities that had been in business for “30 years or more” was the highest with 1,331. The number of long-established companies with at least 100 years of business experience increased for the first time in four years.
- ■By region, all regions experienced year-on-year increases. The four regions of Tohoku (to 212 from 182, up 16.5% year-on-year), Kanto (to 1,433 from 1,117, up 28.3% year-on-year), Chubu (to 562 from 382, up 47.1% year-on-year) and Kyushu (to 340 from 245, up 38.8% year-on-year) exceeded the pre-pandemic period of the first half of 2019.
Bankruptcy Information TOP