The number of corporate bankruptcies in Japan dropped to the lowest in 31 years in 2020, aided by government financial support amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, data released by a credit research company showed Wednesday.
Business failures with debts of at least ¥10 million ($96,000) fell 7.3% from 2019 to 7,773, the lowest since 1989 when 7,234 firms went bankrupt and the first decline in two years, according to data from Tokyo Shoko Research. The total includes 792 bankruptcies attributed to the pandemic.
The drop reflects the impact of the government's measures, including interest-free loans without collateral that helped small and medium-sized companies reeling amid the COVID-19 outbreak.