Over 80% of Bankruptcy Applicants in Seoul Are 'Aged 50 and Above'... More Than Half Are 'Single Males'

Seoul Financial Welfare Counseling Center Releases Analysis Results
75% of Debt Caused by "Insufficient Living Expenses"
Single-Person Households Account for 68%... Increasing Every Year

Last year, 8 out of 10 personal bankruptcy applicants in Seoul were aged 50 or older. The proportion of single-person households also approached 70%, with the most common cause being repayment principal and interest exceeding income.

On the 26th, the Seoul Welfare Foundation's Seoul Financial Welfare Counseling Center announced the "2024 Bankruptcy Discharge Support Status," analyzing 1,302 valid cases out of 1,314 personal bankruptcy applications received last year.

Among the 8,728 personal bankruptcy applications filed at the Seoul Rehabilitation Court in 2024, 1,314 cases (15.0%) were submitted to the Seoul Financial Welfare Counseling Center.

Analysis showed that 86% of applicants were aged 50 or older. Specifically, 22.7% were in their 50s, 39.6% in their 60s, 19.0% in their 70s, and 4.9% in their 80s. The age group 50 and above is generally a period when economic activity decreases, which is interpreted as personal bankruptcy applications occurring due to insufficient living expenses and reduced repayment ability during this time.

Among bankruptcy applicants, 61.8% were male and 38.2% female. The male ratio has consistently been high every year. Basic livelihood security recipients accounted for 83.9%.

When analyzed by household type, single-person households were the most common at 68.4%. The proportion of single-person households has been rising, from 57.3% in 2022 to 63.5% in 2023, and 68.4% last year.

When asked about the causes of debt with multiple responses allowed, "insufficient living expenses" was the most common at 74.5%. "Business failure" accounted for 27.9%. Debt guarantees for others and fraud damage also accounted for 15.5%. Among bankruptcy applicants, 85.6% were unemployed, and 62.7% were multiple debtors with four or more creditors.

Among applicants, 82.0% lived in rental housing, and of these, 69.2% lived in housing with a deposit of less than 6 million KRW. Total assets under 12 million KRW accounted for 90%, indicating a severe lack of assets to cope with sudden crisis situations. More than half of the applicants (60.1%) had total debts under 100 million KRW. Jeong Eun-jeong, director of the Seoul Financial Welfare Counseling Center, said, "To break the vicious cycle of debt, we plan to strengthen support for welfare services such as housing, employment, and medical care along with financial education."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.