Corporate Bankruptcies in 2007 Recorded the Highest Number in Century

January 29, 2008 5:54 PM

From the article “The number of corporate bankruptcies amounted to 10,959 in 2007, the highest number in the 21st century [jp]”:

On January 17, private research firm Teikoku Databank released data on Japanese corporate bankruptcies in 2007 (involving debts of 10 million yen or more). According to the data, the number of bankruptcies in 2007 was 10,959, up 17.2% from the previous year and reached the highest level in the past 7 years.

17.2% increasing rate and 10,959 bankruptcies! It was the worst record since 2001 and 60 percent of those were the collapse of small/micro businesses.

The largest bankruptcies in 2007 in debts were the collapse of Azabu Buildings Co. with the debt of 564.8 billion yen, Nova with 85.5 billion yen, and consumer finance company Credia Co. with 75.7 billion yen.

Soaring oil and food prices and the revision of the Construction Standard Act are considered to be the major contributing factor to the bankruptcies in 2007.

Since the rise in raw material prices seems to continue for this year, many companies might be forced to raise the product prices. The number of bankruptcies will probably keep rising in 2008.