The number of corporate bankruptcies here fell 20.7 percent in November from a year earlier to 1,136, marking an 11th consecutive month of decline, Teikoku Databank Ltd. said Friday.

But combined debts left by the failed companies rose 75.2 percent to 1.009 trillion yen, surpassing the 1 trillion yen mark for the first time in two months, the credit research agency said in a report covering failures involving liabilities of 10 million yen or more.