The number of corporate bankruptcies rose 2.6 percent in January from the previous year to 1,049, Tokyo Shoko Research said Tuesday, while Teikoku Databank announced that 730 firms went bankrupt in the same month, down 3.7 percent from the month prior.
Both agencies's figures cover corporate failures that left debts of 10 million yen or more.
Tokyo Shoko said its figure was the fourth consecutive monthly increase but the third-lowest figure over the past 10 years for the reporting month. The debts left by the bankrupt companies totaled 604.36 billion yen, down 2.8 percent, staying below the 1.00 trillion yen mark for the 22 month in a row.