Japan’s Business Failures during January to December 2023
(Released by TEIKOKU DATABANK, LTD.)
Bankruptcies up 30%, the highest increase since the economic bubble burst
For the first time in 15 years, bankruptcies in all seven industries and nine regions exceeded the same period last year.
| Bankruptcies |
8,497 |
| Year-over-Year basis |
+33.3％ |
| Previous Year |
6,376 |
| Liabilities |
2,376,903 million yen |
| Year-over-Year basis |
+0.2％ |
| Previous Year |
2,372,380 million yen |
Highlight and Outstanding Feature
- ■The number of bankruptcies in 2023 was 8,497 (6,376 in the previous year, up 33.3%), over 2,000 more than the previous year. For the second year in a row, the number of bankruptcies increased from the previous year, and approached the number in 2015 (8,517). Bankruptcies were up 33.3% from the previous year, the highest increase since the burst of the bubble economy.
- ■Total liabilities were 2,376,903 million yen (2,372,380 million yen, up 0.2% year-on-year). There were 18 large-scale bankruptcies of companies with debts of 10 billion yen or more, including Panasonic Liquid Crystal Display Co., Ltd. and Unizo Holdings Co., Ltd., (14 such bankruptcies in the previous year), with total liabilities exceeding 2 trillion yen for the second consecutive year for the first time in 10 years.
- ■By industry, for the first time in 15 years, all seven industries saw bankruptcies increase from the previous year. The largest number was in the service industry (to 2,099 bankruptcies from 1,601 in the previous year, up 31.1%). In the retail industry (to 1,783 from 1,207, up 47.7%), the number of bankruptcies of restaurants (to 768 from 452) was up significantly by about 70% from the previous year.
- ■By primary cause, “recession-induced bankruptcies” increased over 30% from the same period of the previous year for the first time since 2000.
- ■By type, there were 7,986 cases of bankruptcy, the highest level in eight years since 2015 (7,985).
- ■By size, the number of bankruptcies of companies with liabilities of less than 50 million yen exceeded 5,000, comprising almost 60% of the total.
- ■By business history, the number of bankruptcies of start-up companies came to 2,527, exceeding 2,500 for the first time in 11 years.
- ■By region, all nine regions exceeded the previous year’s level for the first time in 15 years. Hokkaido (to 258 from 191, up 35.1% year-on-year), Tohoku (to 443 from 348, up 27.3% year-on-year), Kanto (to 3,066 from 2,348, up 30.6% year-on-year) and Kyushu (to 708 from 504, up 40.5% year-on-year) exceeded pre-coronavirus levels.
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