More than a thousand companies in Japan have gone bankrupt for two consecutive months.

According to Xinhua News Agency, a report released on the 10th by the Tokyo Shoko Research Company indicates that Japan had 1,028 business bankruptcies in July, surpassing 1,000 for the second consecutive month after June. This marks the first time in 14 years that Japan has seen business bankruptcies exceed 1,000 for two consecutive months. The company analyzed that the depreciation of the yen, which has driven up prices, and a shortage of labor are the main reasons for the increase in bankruptcies. Data shows that the number of bankrupt companies in Japan in July increased by 6.9% compared to the same period last year, reaching the highest single-month figure for this year. These companies had a total debt of 236.3 billion yen, which has surged by 41.4% compared to the same period last year. Among them, "Zentoshin," a credit card settlement agency headquartered in Osaka, has a debt of 115.16 billion yen, making it possibly the largest Japanese bankrupt company in terms of debt this year. In terms of bankruptcy causes, 93 companies went bankrupt due to the depreciation of the yen and rising prices, the highest monthly figure since 2022. Additionally, 63 companies went bankrupt due to labor shortages and rising labor costs. From an industry perspective, among the 10 major industries, 7 experienced an increase in the number of bankruptcies compared to the previous year, including construction, retail, and transportation. The Tokyo Shoko Research Company stated that under the continuing backdrop of rising prices and labor costs in Japan, the burden of interest payments is steadily increasing, and it is expected that the number of bankrupt companies may continue to rise. The company's data released in July indicated that Japan had 1,021 bankruptcies in June; in the first half of this year, there were a total of 5,346 companies with debts exceeding 10 million yen that went bankrupt, marking a continuous increase over the past five years and surpassing 5,000 for the first time in 12 years.