Japan’s Business Failures in August 2026
(Released by TEIKOKU DATABANK, LTD.)
Number of bankruptcies exceeds previous year for third consecutive month
Bankruptcies notably high in the service and construction industries
| Bankruptcies |
827 |
| Year-to-Year basis |
+10.1% |
| Last Year same month |
751 |
| Liabilities |
140,692 million yen |
| Year-to-Year basis |
+24.6% |
| Last Year same month |
112,936 million yen |
Highlight and Outstanding Feature
- ■There were 827 bankruptcies (751 bankruptcies in the same month of the previous year, up 10.1% year-on-year), marking the third consecutive month of year-on-year growth. For August, the number exceeded 800 for the first time in 14 years since 2012 (851). The cumulative total for the January–August 2026 period was 7,199, an increase of 489 or 7.3% from the same period of the previous year (6,710). At this pace, the number for the full year in 2026 is expected to exceed 10,000 for the second consecutive year.
- ■Liabilities totaled 140,692 million yen (112,936 million yen in the same month last year, up 24.6%), marking the sixth consecutive month of year-on-year increase. Tokyo Green Co., Ltd., an operator of golf courses, had the largest amount of liabilities, at 15,500 million yen.
- ■By industry, the number of bankruptcies increased year-on-year in four of seven industries. The largest number of bankruptcies was in the service industry (to 223 bankruptcies from 184 in the previous year, up 21.2%), followed by the construction industry (to 182 bankruptcies from 154 in the previous year, up 18.2%) and the retail industry (to 178 bankruptcies from 162, up 9.9%). In terms of their shares of the total, the service industry (up 2.5 percentage points year-on-year) and the construction industry (up 1.5 percentage points year-on-year) together accounted for about half of all bankruptcies.
- ■By region, four of nine regions experienced year-on-year increases. Kinki (229 bankruptcies, up 25.8% from 182 in the same month last year) recorded a year-on-year increase for the third consecutive month, with the August figure reaching its highest level in the past 15 years. Of Japan’s 47 prefectures, 17 recorded year-on-year increases, with particularly sharp increases seen in western Japan.
- ■There were 85 cases of bankruptcies due to “high prices,” surpassing the previous year for nine consecutive months.
- ■There were 47 cases of bankruptcies caused by a “labor shortage,” exceeding the previous year’s level for the first time in two months.
- ■There were 50 cases of bankruptcies in which it was “difficult to find successors,” exceeding the previous year for three consecutive months.
- ■There were 47 “bankruptcies after zero-zero (COVID-19-related) loans,” exceeding the year-earlier level for the first time in six months.
Bankruptcy Information TOP