The number of South Korean corporate bankruptcies fell to the lowest level in eight months last month amid the protracted downturn, the central bank said Thursday.

The number of firms that went belly-up totaled 93 last month, compared with 116 in October, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

It is the lowest since 90 firms recorded in March.

The on-month drop in corporate bankruptcies is largely attributable to the economic situation not becoming any worse amid continued government efforts to boost growth, the central bank said.

Firms in the service and construction sectors saw their insolvency tallies trend down last month, reflecting a better situation for domestic-oriented industries compared with the previous month.

The South Korean economy is widely forecast to grow in the 2 percent range this year due to faltering demand and weak exports.

Meanwhile, the number of newly established companies came to 5,987 in November, up from 5,639 in the previous month, the BOK added. (Yonhap News)