Corporate bankruptcies surged 34 percent in April from a year before to 1,562, the second-largest figure for the month since the asset-inflated bubble economy burst in the early 1990s, a private credit research institution said Wednesday.

The record number of bankruptcy cases for April was 1,740, set in 1998, Teikoku Databank said. The data covered companies with liabilities of 10 million yen or more.

The latest report marks the fifth consecutive month for the monthly tally to exceed year-before levels by more than 30 percent, the agency said.