The number of zombie companies hit 251,000 or 17% of the total number in the 12 months to March, jumping almost a third from the previous year, according to a report by Teikoku Databank on Friday.

TOKYO -- Japan's ranks of financially unsound "zombie" companies swelled about 30% on the year to an 11-year high of around 250,000 in fiscal 2022 as businesses kept afloat through the pandemic by ...