The number of companies that went bankrupt with debts of 10 million yen or more in fiscal 2005 fell for the fourth straight year to a 14-year low, thanks to a pickup in economic activity and government aid for struggling firms, a private credit research agency said Friday.

Tokyo Shoko Research said 13,170 companies went under in the last fiscal year, down 0.1 percent from the previous year and the smallest number since fiscal 1991, when 11,557 businesses folded.

The combined debt of the failed companies amounted to 6.12 trillion yen, down 15.7 percent. It is the the first time in 11 years combined debt has stayed below 7 trillion yen.