Bankruptcy Filings Fall 11.8 Percent for Year Ending June 30

Updated 3/5/2021: Due to technical changes, the total bankruptcy filings by chapter table was updated.

Despite a sharp rise in unemployment related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, personal and business bankruptcy filings fell 11.8 percent for the 12-month period ending June 30, 2020, according to statistics released by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Annual bankruptcy filings totaled 682,363, compared with 773,361 cases in the year ending June 2019.

Business filings remained virtually identical to a year before, at 22,482. However, non-business bankruptcy filings fell by 12.1 percent, to 659,881 in the year ending June 30, 2020, compared with 750,878 in the year ending June 2019.

Bankruptcy filings tend to escalate gradually after an economic downturn starts. Following the Great Recession, new filings escalated over a two-year period until they peaked in 2010.

Some filing activity also may have been affected by pandemic-related disruptions to bankruptcy courts, many of which have limited public building access since mid-March. 

The following bankruptcy filings statistics tables are available: 

• Business and non-business bankruptcy filings for the 12-month period ending June 30, 2020. (Table F-2, 12-Month);
• 2019 and 2020 Bankruptcy Cases Commenced, Terminated and Pending (Table F);
• Filings by most recent quarter (Table F-2, 3 Months ending June 30, 2020), and filings by month (Table F-2, April, May, June);
• Bankruptcy filings by county (Table-F5A).

For more on bankruptcy and its chapters, view the following resources:

• Historic caseload statistics data tables
• Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure
• General information about bankruptcy, including Bankruptcy Basics