The number of corporate bankruptcies rose to the highest level in six months in July due mainly to a one-off factor, the central bank said Tuesday.

The number of companies that went belly-up totaled 101 in July, up from 58 tallied in the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea.

In July, corporate failures hit the highest level since January when the number of bankruptcies reached 103, the bank added.

The BOK said the calendar effect caused the number of business failures to rise as the final two days of June were on a weekend, making clearance of promissory notes defer to July.

If the effect is taken out, the average number of corporate bankruptcies reached 80 for June and July, similar to an average of 83 for the first five months of this year, it added.

Meanwhile, the number of newly established companies came in at a record high of 7,140 last month, up 1,075 from the previous month. The BOK began to compile related data in January 1998.

The default rate of corporate bills ― bonds, checks and promissory notes ― reached 0.14 percent last month, up from 0.08 percent in June. (Yonhap News)