A report released Friday by Insolvency and Trustee Service Australia pointed to single males in the age bracket 40 to 44 as those at the highest risk of declaring bankruptcy.

While the age of people declaring insolvency has been going up since 2003, the report said proportion of bankrupts for men in the age group 18 to 39 declined, but those over 40 rose.

The report, released every two years, said of the 23,125 bankruptcies in Australia in 2011, men accounted for 57 per cent of which 40 per cent were single and 29 per cent were people in their 40s.

It explained the reason behind the high rate of bankruptcies in that demographic group as loss of work of income and too much use of credit facilities for individuals. However, for businesses, the report said insolvencies were often caused by the weak economic conditions.

About 48 per cent of Aussies who declared bankruptcy earned more than $30,000 while 27 per cent owed at least $100,000. Forty-one percent owed their debts to banks in the form of unsecured debt. 21 per cent to credit card firms.

The credit card debtors apparently are bucking trends reported by a recent study of the Reserve Bank of Australia that Aussies in recent years tended to keep their card debts down.

One possible explanation for the rising trend of bankruptcies among single males in their 40s is there difficulty in securing new employment once they lose their jobs because of stiffer competition from younger workers who are more tech savvy and willing to be hired at lower wages.

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