Worsening unemployment is behind a big rise in personal bankruptcies in the first eight months of the year, according to the Official Receiver's Office.
The number of bankruptcy petitions by individuals to the end of August - 7,114 - was more than the 5,487 for all of last year and the 3,876 in 1999.
The bankruptcy court granted 5,247 orders in the eight months, compared with 4,606 in the whole of last year and 3,071 in 1999. It usually takes several months for the court to grant orders after petitions have been submitted.
A spokesman for the Official Receiver's Office blamed the rising trend of personal bankruptcies on the increase in the SAR's jobless rate.
Unemployment stood at 4.9 per cent for the June-August quarter, with 172,000 out of work.
Of the bankruptcy cases in the five months from April to August, 33 per cent were due to lack of employment, according to the Official Receiver's Office.