The number of people declaring themselves bankrupt has increased by 7% during the third quarter of the year.
A total of 13,653 people in England and Wales petitioned for bankruptcy in the three months to the end of September, 7% more than during the same period of 2007 and 1% more than during the previous quarter.
The figure was also the second highest recorded by the Ministry of Justice since it began collecting data in its current format in 1995.
It was the third quarter in a row that the number of people petitioning for bankruptcy themselves has risen, after it fell for most of 2007.
There were also a further 5,499 petitions to have people made bankrupt lodged by creditors during the third quarter, 10% more than in the same three months of 2007.
But the MoJ data showed a sharper increase in the number of companies being wound up.
A total of 3,184 winding up petitions were lodged with the High Court and county courts of England and Wales in the three months, a 13% jump compared with the previous year.
Numbers were also 9% higher than during the previous quarter in a further sign that companies are increasingly struggling in the current economic environment.
Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight, said: "The marked rise in the number of companies being wound up in the third quarter is a clear taste of things to come as extended marked economic contraction, very tight credit conditions and intense competition will exact an increasingly heavy toll on companies.
"Similarly, individual bankruptcies are poised to surge over the coming months in the face of recession, faster rising unemployment, higher debt levels, very tight credit conditions and more and more people being trapped in negative equity."
