The number of civil summonses issued for debt has increased, Statistics SA said on Thursday.

The total number of civil summonses issued for debt for the first quarter of 2009 rose by 22.1 percent compared with the first quarter of 2008, the Pretoria-based agency said.

There was also an increase between March 2008 and March 2009.

"The number of individuals being taken to court for failing to make payments, particularly on bank loans, jumped sharply in March, rising by 41.8 percent year-on-year from 14 percent year-on-year in the previous month," Nedbank economist Carmen Altenkirch said.

"This reflects a combination of households being under severe financial strain for an extended period of time as well as the sharp increase in job losses in the first quarter," she said.

Overall civil summonses, which included cases against businesses and individuals, rose by 40.9 percent year-on-year, she noted.

Statistics SA also said that the total number of civil judgements recorded for debt for the first quarter of 2009 was 7.0 percent higher compared with the first quarter of 2008.

There was also an increase of 33.8 percent between March 2008 and March 2009, Statistics SA said.

Civil judgements in respect of money lent (6.1 percentage points) and professional services (2.8 percentage points) were the main drivers behind the 7.0 percent increase, the agency noted.

Furthermore, according to the data, the value of civil judgements recorded for debt for the first quarter of 2009 increased by 13.7 percent compared with the first quarter of 2008.

There was also an increase of 34.3 percent between March 2008 and March 2009.

The major contributors to this 13.7 percent increase for the first quarter of 2009 were money lent (10.6 percentage points), professional services (2.2 percentage points), rent (1.9 percentage points) and other services (1.8 percentage points).

During March 2009, 67 174 civil judgements for debt amounting to R627.8-million were recorded.

The largest contributors to the R627.8-million were civil judgements relating to money lent (R212.7-million) "other debts" (R115.0-million, promissory notes and other acknowledgements of debt (R67.2-million) and goods sold on an open account (R64.2-million).