November saw 848 bankruptcy petitions and 695 orders, down 14.3% and 21.2% on the same month last year, the Official Receiver's Office says. Compared with October, the number of bankruptcy petitions and orders fell 8.9% and 30.4%.

The month also saw 61 compulsory winding-up petitions, up 41.9% on a year earlier and 38.6% on October. However, the number of winding-up orders dropped 49.3% on a year earlier and 15% on October, to 34.

Taking the first 11 months of the year together, the number of bankruptcy petitions and orders rose 2.7% and 8%, to 10,195 and 10,449.

There were 553 compulsory winding-up petitions and 417 winding-up orders in January-November, down 12.6% and 16.9% on the same period last year.