Corporate bankruptcies in Japan rose for the third straight year in 2024. It is the highest number since 2013. Rising prices and labor shortages were to blame in many cases.

Credit researcher Teikoku Databank says that 9,901 firms filed for bankruptcy last year with debts of at least 10 million yen, or about 63,000 dollars. The tally rose 16.5 percent.

The service sector saw 2,547 businesses go under. That's an increase of 21.3 percent. Retailers followed with 2,087 failures, marking a rise of 17 percent. Construction saw an increase of 13.1 percent to 1,890.

Many businesses struggled as they found it hard to pass on rising material and labor costs to their prices. Severe worker shortages were also a problem.

Teikoku Databank says a mild increase is likely to continue this year, with the tough external environment driving up costs not expected to improve anytime soon.