A local debt specialist says new national numbers show a big drop in the number of people declaring bankruptcy, with an increase in consumer proposals.

Janes & Noseworthy President, Ian Penney says the latest Insolvency Statistics show that formal insolvency filings are dropping across the province, with only 1749 filed in 2021.

That’s the lowest number since 2014 and 46 per cent decrease since 2019.

63 per cent of total filings in this province last year were consumer proposals, up from 59 per cent in 2020 and 54 per cent in 2019.

Penney says the multi-year drop in formal insolvency filings suggests that Newfoundlanders and Labradorians may be experiencing relatively good financial health through the pandemic.

He says it will be interesting to see if the trend reverses as government income subsidies disappear in 2022.