Four companies each day went out of business in January, new data showed today.

The report from InsolvencyJournal.ie showed a total of 135 companies went bust last month, a rise of 39 per cent compared with 2011.

The majority of the failed companies were in the services sector, accounting for 32 per cent of the overall total, while the construction industry accounted for 26 per cent.

The retail industry, hit by falling consumer demand amid the current economic fragility, saw the number of insolvencies rise by 66 per cent in the month

Receiverships were up by a third, and examinerships accounted by 5 per cent of all insolvencies.

“The overall increase in total when compared to the same period last year is not surprising given the continued weak consumer sentiment as a result of the harsh budgetary measures introduced in the latter half of last year,” said Ken Fennell, partner with Kavanaghfennell, which compiles the data.

However, a similar report from Vision.net showed entrepreneurs registered almost 2,000 new business names in the same period, an average of 66 every day.

“Our figures show that company insolvencies remain a daily feature of the domestic economy but the spike in business name registrations and a consistent trend in the number of start-ups demonstrates our resilient sense of entrepreneurship,’” said Christine Cullen, managing Director of Vision.net.