Profile of Bankrupts, Types of Petitioners and Multi-time Bankruptcy

Annual Statistics on Profile of Bankrupts, Types of Petitioners and Multi-time Bankruptcy (Jan 2023 – Dec 2023)

Profile of Bankrupts

Gender of bankrupts Percentage
Male 63.90%
Female 36.10%
Total 100.00%

Age of bankrupts Percentage
30 or below 17.67%
Above 30 – 40 23.60%
Above 40 – 50 24.01%
Above 50 34.72%
Total 100.00%

Monthly income of bankrupts Percentage
$0 37.43%
Above $0 - $10,000 14.11%
Above $10,000 - $15,000 13.05%
Above $15,000 - $20,000 17.36%
Above $20,000 - $25,000 9.39%
Above $25,000 8.66%
Total 100.00%

Liabilities level of bankrupts Percentage
$200,000 or below 12.69%
Above $200,000 - $400,000 31.90%
Above $400,000 - $600,000 21.79%
Above $600,000 - $800,000 10.80%
Above $800,000 - $1,000,000 6.42%
Above $1,000,000 - $2,000,000 9.37%
Above $2,000,000 - $6,000,000 4.92%
Above $6,000,000 2.11%
Total 100.00%

Residence type of bankrupts Percentage
Public housing 54.68%
Private apartment (mortgaged/charged) 1.63%
Private apartment (others1) 43.69%
Total 100.00%

1 Mainly include property of which the bankrupt is not the owner/co-owner


Cause of failure of bankrupts Percentage
Unemployment / loss of employment 24.94%
Income could not meet basic expenses 44.60%
Negative equity 0.51%
Loss in investment 3.07%
Loss in gambling / speculation 10.27%
Liabilities incurred on personal guarantees 0.69%
Increase in medical expenses 1.18%
Liabilities incurred on divorce-related matters 0.14%
Poor business 1.77%
Decline in business 0.75%
Economic downturn 0.63%
Insufficient capital 0.41%
Increase in costs (rent, wages etc.) 0.06%
Management failure 0.18%
Shareholders/partners dispute 0.02%
Excessive use of credit facilities 0.83%
Victim of fraud 5.18%
Bad debts 0.55%
Adverse legal action (other than divorce-related) 0.20%
Unforeseen circumstances 0.14%
Others 3.88%
Total 100.00%

Types of Petitioners

Petitioner type Percentage
Director of Legal Aid 0.30%
Trade creditors -
Bank or financial institution 2.90%
Landlord -
Shareholders -
Debtor's self-petition 93.90%
Others 2.90%
Total 100.00%

Note 1: Statistics on Profile of Bankrupt & Types of Petitioners are based on the information collected as at 10 Jan 2024 from the bankrupts or relevant parties (such as creditors) in bankruptcy cases with bankruptcy orders made or petitions received during the year.


Multi-time Bankruptcy

No. of bankruptcy Percentage
1st time bankruptcy 87.45%
Multi-time bankruptcy 12.55%
Total 100.00%

Note 2: Statistics on Multi-time Bankruptcy are based on the information collected as at 10 Jan 2024 in bankruptcy cases with bankruptcy orders made during the year.