The number of corporate bankruptcies around the country fell 23.3 percent in October from a year earlier to 1,064 for the 22nd consecutive month of decline.

Teikoku Databank said Monday in its monthly report on failures with debts of 10 million yen or more that combined debts left by failed companies decreased 20 percent to 680.4 billion yen.

It attributed the falling bankruptcies to the government-backed credit guarantee systems for small and midsize enterprises, and corporate revival programs under the Industrial Revitalization Corp. of Japan.

But it cautioned that bankruptcies are not declining due to an autonomous recovery of businesses. It is necessary to keep tabs on such negative factors as a slowdown in the U.S. and Chinese economies, the higher yen, and soaring crude oil and materials prices, it said.

The number of failures in which companies were forced to discontinue business under court-supervised proceedings came to 421, the second-highest recorded level of 39.6 percent for October bankruptcies.

In other bankruptcy cases, companies are allowed to continue operations in procedures involving debt waivers and reductions to their workforces.

The number of companies that went into bankruptcy voluntarily came to 594, down 26.7 percent and falling below 600 for the first time since January 1991.

No listed companies went bankrupt in the month for the first time in nine months.

Bankruptcies in the construction industry fell 22.8 percent to 321 cases and those in the wholesale industry slipped 23 percent to 164 cases.

Of the October total, 792 companies, or 74.4 percent, collapsed due to recession-linked factors, including poor sales and an inability to pay off bank loans.

Failures of companies that have been in business for 30 years or longer numbered 287, accounting for 27 percent of the total.