Over 15k M’sians Went Bankrupt Due to Personal Loans Since 2020, 72.88% of All Bankrupt Individuals are Men

The latest statistics regarding bankruptcy were recently released by the Malaysia Department of Insolvency (MdI), providing some interesting insights into the issue of insolvency in our country.

According to MdI, a total of 133,884 bankruptcy cases were handled by the department since its inception, 31,387 of which took place from January 2020 to December 2024.

Selangor records the highest number of bankruptcy cases

Overall, Selangor recorded the most bankruptcy cases, with 23,352 cases, followed by Johor Bahru (18,371 cases) and the Federal Territories (18,191 cases). Making up the top 5 are Penang (15,607 cases) and Perak (9,500 cases).

Check out the overall statistics here:

As for the last 5 years (2020 to 2024), the top 5 regions with the most insolvency cases are as follows:

1. Selangor – 7,581 cases
2. Federal Territories – 3,954 cases
3. Johor Bahru – 2,623 cases
4. Kedah – 1,930 cases
5. Penang – 1,723 cases

Check out the full statistics for 2020 until 2024 below:

72.88% of bankruptcy individuals in the past 5 years are men

Do note that since 2020, MdI also included non-citizens in the statistics, though the number is not significant, with only 135 cases reported or 0.43% of the 31,387 total cases from January 2020 to December 2024. Hence, in the same period, a total of 31,252 Malaysians went bankrupt in our country.

Here’s a breakdown of the total cases (including non-citizens) since 2020 in terms of race below:

As you can see, Malays make up the highest percentage of insolvencies since 2020 with 18,161 cases (57.86%), followed by Chinese with 8,227 cases (26.21%) and Indians with 2,338 cases (7.45%).

A further breakdown, this time based on gender, showed that there are significantly more bankruptcy cases among men, which is 22,876 or a whopping 72.88%. Meanwhile, 26.836% or 8,421 are women, while the remaining 0.29% involve 90 cases where the gender of the individuals was not recorded in the case.

Besides that, those aged 35 to 44 recorded the highest number of bankruptcy cases from 2020 to 2024 at 12,304 (39.2%), followed by 45 to 54 with 8,660 (27.59%) and 25 to 34 with 5,133 (16.35%).

Check out the statistics for insolvency cases from 2020 to 2024 according to age below:

Personal loans are the main cause of insolvencies in Malaysia

For illustration purposes

As for the reason behind these individuals going bankrupt, almost half of cases since 2020, specifically 49.11% or 15,413 cases, were due to personal loans. The second highest is business loans, with 5,865 cases (18.69%), while the third highest is because of vehicle purchase agreements, with 2,902 cases (9.25%).

The full breakdown of the reasons behind insolvency cases from 2020 to 2024 can be viewed below:

So, what do you guys think of these statistics? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!

Also read: Nearly 300,000 M’sians Lost Their Jobs Since 2020 Up Until This Year, Says Deputy HR Minister