Bankruptcy Filings Continue Steady Drop

Correction made to the Total Bankruptcy Filings by Chapter in May 2024.

Bankruptcy filings continued a steep two-year-long fall that coincided with the start of the coronavirus (COVID-19). Filings fell 16.5 percent for the 12-month period ending March 31, 2022. According to statistics released by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the March 2022 annual bankruptcy filings totaled 395,373, compared with 473,349 cases in the previous year.

Filings fell both for businesses and non-business bankruptcies, compared with the year ending March 2021. Non-business filings fell by a total of 15.7 percent, while business filings fell 33.9 percent.

This year’s 12-month filing total for the quarter ending March 31 is slightly more than half of the total reported in March 2020, when the pandemic began. That year’s 12-month total was 764,282.

Additional statistics released today include:

• Business and non-business bankruptcy filings for the 12-month period ending March 31, 2022 (Table F-2, 12-month);
• Bankruptcy data for the twelve-month periods ending in March 2021and March 2022 (Table F);
• Fourth quarter filings, (Table F-2, 3-month); and filings by month (Table F-2, January, February, and March)
• Bankruptcy filings by county (Report F-5A).

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