The number of corporate bankruptcies increased in 2019 for the first time in 11 years, affected by the consumption tax hike, labor shortages and a series of natural disasters, a credit research agency said Tuesday.

Business failures with debts of at least ¥10 million rose 1.8 percent from the previous year to 8,383, the first increase since the 2008 global financial crisis, Tokyo Shoko Research said.

Bankruptcies increased in the retail and transportation sectors that were hit hard by the Oct. 1 consumption tax hike from 8 percent to 10 percent, natural disasters and the labor crunch, the agency said.

Total liabilities left by bankrupt companies dropped 4.2 percent from a year earlier to ¥1.42 trillion, the lowest level in 30 years, as a majority of bankruptcies involved debts of less than ¥100 million, it said.