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Bankruptcy Filings Continue Decline

Published onAugust 3, 2012

Bankruptcy filings for the 12-month period ending June 30, 2012, totaled 1,311,602 petitions, 14 percent less than the 1,529,560 filed in the 12-month period ending June 30, 2011, according to statistics released today by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

Business and Non-Business Filings

The majority of bankruptcy filings involve predominantly non-business debts. For the 12-month period ending June 30, 2012, non-business filings—where the debts are predominantly personal or consumer in nature—totaled 1,267,167, down 14 percent from the 1,477,426 nonbusiness bankruptcies filed in the 12-month period ending June 30, 2011.

Business and Non-business Filings
Years Ended June 30, 2008-2012

Year Total Non-Business Business
2012 1,311,602 1,267,167 44,435
2011 1,529,560 1,477,426 52,134
2010 1,572,597 1,512,989 59,608
2009 1,306,315 1,251,294 55,021
2008 967,831 934,009 33,822

Third Quarter of FY 2012

April, May, and June 2012 constituted the third quarter of the Judiciary's 2012 fiscal year. The number of bankruptcies filed during those three months was 325,693, down 14 percent from the 379,790 filings in the same quarter of 2011.

Filings by Chapter

For the 12-month period ending June 30, 2012, filings fell for chapters 7, 11, 12, and 13 compared to filings in the 12-month period ending June 30, 2011.

  • Chapter 7 filings, which constitute 70 percent of all filings, fell 16 percent to 914,015 from the 1,083,671 Chapter 7 filings in the 12-month period ending June 30, 2011.
  • Chapter 13 filings, which account for 29 percent of all filings, fell 11 percent to 385,949 from the 432,333 Chapter 13 bankruptcies filed in the same time period in 2011.
  • Chapter 11 filings, which make up less than 1 percent of all filings, fell 14 percent to 10,921 from the 12,714 Chapter 11 filings in the same time period in 2011.
  • Chapter 12 filings fell 19 percent to 582 from the 717 Chapter 12 filings in the same time period in 2011.

For more on bankruptcy and its chapters, visit the Judiciary's website or go to fjc.gov. Local bankruptcy court rules can be found here. View historic data on bankruptcy filings. Additional bankruptcy statistics, including bankruptcies by county, can be found on the Judiciary's PACER system.

Total Bankruptcy Filings by Bankruptcy Chapter Years Ended June 30, 2008-2012

Chapter
Year 7 11 12 13
2012 914,015 10,921 582 385,949
2011 1,083,671 12,714 717 432,333
2010 1,133,320 14,272 660 424,242
2009 907,603 13,951 422 384,187
2008 615,748 7,293 314 344,421

Quarterly Bankruptcy Filings*

Period Filings Period Filings Period Filings Period Filings
MAR. 31, 2012 322,973 JUN. 30, 2012 325,693        
MAR. 31, 2011 366,178 JUN. 30, 2011 379,790 SEPT. 30, 2011 348,635 DEC. 31, 2011 313,775
MAR. 31, 2010 388,148 JUN. 30, 2010 422,061 SEPT. 30, 2010 412,380 DEC. 31, 2010 370,080
MAR. 31, 2009 330,394 JUN. 30, 2009 381,073 SEPT. 30, 2009 388,485 DEC. 31, 2009 372,203
MAR. 31, 2008 245,695 JUN. 30, 2008 276,428 SEPT. 30, 2008 292,218 DEC. 31, 2008 301,253
MAR. 31, 2007 193,641 JUN. 30, 2007 210,449 SEPT. 30, 2007 218,909 DEC. 31, 2007 226,413
MAR. 31, 2006 116,771 JUN. 30, 2006 155,833 SEPT. 30, 2006 171,146 DEC. 31, 2006 177,599
MAR. 31, 2005 401,149 JUN. 30, 2005 467,333 SEPT. 30, 2005 542,002 DEC. 31, 2005 667,431
MAR. 31, 2004 407,572 JUN. 30, 2004 421,110 SEPT. 30, 2004 396,438 DEC. 31, 2004 371,668
MAR. 31, 2003 412,968 JUN. 30, 2003 440,257 SEPT. 30, 2003 412,989 DEC. 31, 2003 393,348
MAR. 31, 2002 379,012 JUN. 30, 2002 400,686 SEPT. 30, 2002 401,306 DEC. 31, 2002 395,129
MAR. 31, 2001 366,841 JUN. 30, 2001 400,394 SEPT. 30, 2001 359,518 DEC. 31, 2001 364,921
MAR. 31, 2000 312,335 JUN. 30, 2000 321,729 SEPT. 30, 2000 308,718 DEC. 31, 2000 310,169
MAR. 31, 1999 330,784 JUN. 30, 1999 345,956 SEPT. 30, 1999 323,550 DEC. 31, 1999 318,634
MAR. 31, 1998 354,118 JUN. 30, 1998 373,460 SEPT. 30, 1998 361,205 DEC. 31, 1998 353,108
MAR. 31, 1997 335,073 JUN. 30, 1997 367,168 SEPT. 30, 1997 353,515 DEC. 31, 1997 347,685
MAR. 31, 1996 266,149 JUN. 30, 1996 297,162 SEPT. 30, 1996 303,309 DEC. 31, 1996 311,131
MAR. 31, 1995 212,626 JUN. 30, 1995 235,302 SEPT. 30, 1995 233,593 DEC. 31, 1995 244,494

* Because of ongoing corrections to the bankruptcy database, the quarterly data may not total to the most recent annual figures.

Related Topics: Bankruptcy Filings, Statistics