The Australian Financial Security Authority (FSA) has released personal insolvency statistics for 2017-18, which reveals a sharp rise in total personal insolvencies to the highest level since the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), with record high insolvencies reached in WA and NT, and debt agreements also hitting an all-time high:
According to the FSA:
There were 31,859 personal insolvencies in 2017–18, which is the largest annual number of personal insolvencies since the record of 36,539 set in 2009–10. The number of personal insolvencies rose by 5.6% in 2017–18 compared to 2016–17:
Personal insolvencies reached record annual levels in Northern Territory and Western Australia in 2017–18…
The 14,834 new debt agreements in 2017–18 was the highest annual number on record, and represents the seventh consecutive annual increase. Debt agreements were at record annual levels in all states and territories except Tasmania.
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness.
Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.
