Most people declared bankrupt last year were aged 30 to 50, earned between $10,000 and $15,000 a month, had eight to 10 credit cards and were burdened with debts of more than $400,000.
Stephen Ip Shu-kwan, the Secretary for Financial Services, outlined the profile yesterday as he promised to crack down on people who abuse the bankruptcy law to avoid paying debts.
The Government relaxed the law in 1998 to limit the bankruptcy period to four years. Before then no time period was specified.
Figures showed case numbers rose from 893 in 1998 to 3,071 in 1999, and jumped further to 9,151 last year - a nine-fold increase in three years. Increases in Australia and Singapore in the corresponding period were only 2.5 per cent and 17.5 per cent.
Mr Ip denied the surge in the SAR was serious, saying bankruptcies in the US and Canada had also reached new highs.
He also doubted the relaxation had prompted more people in debt to apply for bankruptcy, pointing out the period of bankruptcy is two months in the US, one year in the UK and three years in Singapore.