Bankruptcies of nursing care providers in Japan hit their highest-ever level in the first half of 2024.

Credit reporting agency Tokyo Shoko Research says a record 81 care providers went bankrupt between January and June.

The number of failures with liabilities of 62,000 dollars or more during the period went up by 27 compared with a year earlier.

The figure is significantly larger than the previous record of 58 set in 2020 and the highest since recordkeeping began in 2000.

Forty of the failed businesses provided home visit nursing care, while 25 offered day care services or short stays. Nine were residential nursing homes. All three sectors reported the highest number of failures for this period.

Some 80 percent of the nursing care providers, accounting for 64 providers, cited low profitability.

Tokyo Shoko Research attributes the failures to an acute labor shortage and a surge in utility and other prices.

It notes that in particular, a number of the businesses got caught in a negative cycle of being unable to secure enough workers due to their poor business performance.

The research firm says the trend will likely continue due to uncertainties in the labor market and soaring prices.