Bankruptcy Filings Increase Slightly

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

Bankruptcy filings increased slightly for the 12-month period ending Dec. 31, 2019, compared with cases for the year ending Dec. 31, 2018, according to statistics released by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. It was the second straight quarter that bankruptcy filings rose, after annual declines lasting nearly a decade.

Annual bankruptcy filings totaled 774,940, compared with 773,418 cases in December 2018. That is an increase of 0.2 percent.

The level of filings is still 51 percent below the peak reached in 2010, during the aftermath of the Great Recession, 2007-2009. A national wave of bankruptcies that began in 2008 reached a peak in the year ending September 2010, when nearly 1.6 million bankruptcy cases were filed.

The following tables are available:

• Business and non-business bankruptcy filings for the 12-month period ending Dec.31, 2019  (Table F-2, 12-month);

• Twelve-month data from December 2018 and December 2019 (Table F);

• Fourth quarter filings, (Table F-2, 3-month); and filings by month (Table F-2, October, November, December)

• 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