Malaysians aged between 35 and 44 form the largest group of bankrupts from 2020 to May this year, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar in a written reply to Parit Buntar Member of Parliament Datuk Seri Mujahid Yusof Rawa.

Of the 17,599 Malaysians declared bankrupt during the period, 6,681 were aged between 35 and 44, and there were three times as many men as women.

Wan Junaidi said 4,164 of them were from Selangor, followed by Federal Territory (2,203 cases), Johor (1,987), Sabah (1,642), Perak (1,278), Kedah (976), Penang (949), Sarawak (948), Negeri Sembilan (831), Pahang (776), Kelantan (724), Terengganu (569), Melaka (453) and Perlis (99).

The second largest group of bankrupts were those aged between 45 and 54 (4,819), followed by those between 25 and 34 (3,171).

There were 2,823 bankrupts aged 55 and above and 25 aged 25 and below.

There were 12,970 male and only 4,607 female bankrupts.

The gender of 22 cases was unavailable.

Malays were the largest ethnic group with 10,267 bankrupts, followed by Chinese 4,447, Indians 1,321, others 1,516 and non-citizen 48.