SINGAPORE: More people are being declared bankrupt in Singapore, going by the latest official statistics, although their age distribution has largely stayed the same.
Personal bankruptcy cases reached 482 in the first quarter of financial year 2026 (1Q26), up from 378 in 1Q25, according to data from the Law Ministry (MinLaw).
A spokesperson for MinLaw said there are five reasons why most people become bankrupt.
These are business failure, overspending on consumer goods and services, unemployment or retrenchment, acting as a guarantor for a business or another individual, and insufficient income to meet daily expenses.
Such information is declared to the authorities when a person applies for bankruptcy in Singapore or is made bankrupt by a creditor.
The age distribution of bankruptcies has remained largely stable year-on-year, MinLaw noted.
Between 2016 and September 2025, those aged 40 to 54 formed the largest group of bankrupts, accounting for almost half, or 47%, of the 12,238 cases.
Those aged 25 to 39 made up 29%, and those aged 55 and above constituted 24%. Just under 1%, or 52 individuals, were aged 24 and below.
Declaring bankruptcy should be seen as a last resort, according to experts.
Jean Lee, fund-raising manager at Adullam Life Counselling, advised borrowers to seek help early before their debt grows out of control.
“When the debt is smaller, it is easier to talk to creditors,” she said.
However, some hesitate to come forward and will try to resolve the problem on their own.
“The natural reaction is to take debt to pay debts. You solve today’s problem, but it becomes tomorrow’s problem,” said Lee, whose organisation is a social service agency that helps individuals struggling with debt to avoid bankruptcy.
Jonathan Ong, a licensed insolvency practitioner, said in most bankruptcy cases that he has come across, debtors would have already exhausted all borrowing avenues before seeking help.
By then, it will not be possible to repay or restructure their debt based on their personal or employment situation, added Ong, director of restructuring and insolvency at EisnerAmper Singapore, a global accounting, tax and business advisory firm.
MinLaw data showed that personal bankruptcies hit a post-lockdowns peak in 2025. There were 1,623 cases in 2025, the highest since 2019, when 1,645 individuals entered insolvency.
In 2025, Adullam Life Counselling saw a 13% increase in the number of people seeking help with debt issues, reflecting financial strains on the ground.
Lee said they come from all walks of life, with 10% classified as low-income earners, 85% as middle-income earners and 5% in the high-income group.
The number of scam victims seeking help has risen in the last one to two years, she also noted.
The increase was particularly evident in 2025. In December alone, more than half of the cases Adullam counselled were scam-related.
“The scammers are not just scamming people out of their savings.
“They are actually teaching the victim to take loans to pay them.
“It is a very dangerous trend,” Lee said, adding that the victims incurred both credit card and moneylender debts.
“First, you wipe out all my savings. Then I am saddled with debt, sometimes it can be a few hundred thousand,” she added.
Alex (not his real name) fell for an investment scam on Facebook in August 2025 and was declared a bankrupt in early March.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the 50-year-old said he chalked up S$330,000 in credit card debt to invest in the Malaysia, China and Taiwan stock markets.
“They enticed investors to put in more money. So I started to borrow from the banks,” he said.
Alex realised something was amiss only when he was unable to access the investment app and the company did not reply to his messages.
After two months, he could no longer cope with the monthly repayments to the banks.
“I had to pay about S$6,000 every month,” he said.
He tried to get a debt consolidation plan with the banks, but was rejected.
He then sought help from his MP, who referred him to Adullam.
“The amount I owed was too huge, so I was advised to file for bankruptcy,” he said.
Alex is among a small number of clients at Adullam who filed for bankruptcy.
Lee said most of the other cases managed to clear their debts after mediation with creditors to negotiate a repayment plan.
EisnerAmper’s Ong said larger debts of more than S$200,000 are typically linked to business failures or the loss of high-income employment.
He added that many business owners go into bankruptcy because they acted as personal guarantors for their business loans from financial institutions and moneylenders. — The Straits Times/ANN
