In the six months to September, the number of companies that went bankrupt nationwide exceeded 9,4 for the first time in four years, an increase of more than 4000,1000 compared to the same period last year. The number of bankruptcies, which has been suppressed by COVID-related support measures, has returned to pre-pandemic levels.
According to Teikoku Databank, a private credit research company, in the first half of this fiscal year from April to September, there were 4,9 companies and other businesses nationwide that had debts of more than 1000 million yen and went through legal liquidation procedures.
This is the first time in four years that the number of bankruptcies has exceeded 4208,4000, an increase of 4,1085, or 34.7%, compared to the same period last year.
The number of bankruptcies is increasing in all industries.
"Services" increased by 26% compared to the same period last year to 1022,58 cases, while
"Retail" increased by 3.885% to 324 cases.
In addition, there were 7 bankruptcies due to difficulties in repaying after receiving virtually interest-free and unsecured loans in response to the novel coronavirus, so-called "zero-zero loans."
According to Teikoku Databank, "The number of bankruptcies has returned to pre-pandemic levels due to the full-scale repayment of zero-zero loans from July, and there are also notable cases of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) giving up on continuing their businesses due to insufficient manpower or inability to pass on price increases to prices."