Bankruptcy applications hit 17-year high in 2022, after tapering of Covid-era support

BANKRUPTCY applications by individuals in Singapore rose to a 17-year high last year, but applications for companies to be compulsorily liquidated dipped – trends which lawyers and economists say could be due to business owners being included in the personal bankruptcy figures.

Data from the Ministry of Law’s Insolvency Office put 2022’s number of bankruptcy applications – made either by individuals on their own behalf or by their creditors – at 3,648. This was 15.4 per cent higher than the 3,160 applications in 2021.

Bankruptcy orders made by the courts, which declare individuals bankrupt, stood at 958 in 2022, down from 1,003 in 2021.