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Bankruptcy Filings Down in Fiscal Year 2012

Published onNovember 7, 2012

Bankruptcy cases filed in federal courts for fiscal year 2012, the 12-month period ending September 30, 2012, totaled 1,261,140, down 14 percent from the 1,467,221 bankruptcy cases filed in FY 2011, according to statistics released today by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

Additional statistics released today include business and non-business bankruptcy filings for the 12-month period ending September 30, 2012 (Table F-2, 12-month); a comparison of September 2011 and 2012 filings (Table F), 4th quarter filings (Table F-2, 3-month); monthly filings for the 12-month period ending September 30, 2012 (Table F-2, Monthly), and per capita filings.

Business Bankruptcy Filings Fall

For the 12-month period ending September 30, 2012, business bankruptcy filings—those where the debtor is a corporation or partnership, or the debt is predominantly related to the operation of a business—totaled 42,008, down 16 percent from the 49,895 business filings reported in the 12-month period ending September 30, 2011.

Business and Non-Business Filings
Years Ended September 30, 2008-2012

Year Business Non-Business Total
2012 42,008 1,219,132 1,261,140
2011 49,895 1,417,326 1,467,221
2010 58,322 1,538,033 1,596,355
2009 58,721 1,344,095 1,402,816
2008 38,651 1,004,342 1,042,993

Non-business bankruptcy filings totaled 1,219,132, down 14 percent from the 1,417,326 non-business bankruptcy filings in September 2011.

Filings Under All Chapters

In FY 2012, filings fell for all bankruptcy chapters:

  • Chapter 7 filings in FY 2012 totaled 874,337, down 16 percent from the 1,036,950 Chapter 7 filings in FY 2011.
  • Chapter 13 filings fell 10 percent, from 417,503 in FY 2011 to 375,521 in FY 2012.
  • Chapter 11 filings fell to 10,597, down 12 percent from the 11,979 Chapter 11 filings reported in FY 2011.
  • Chapter 12 filings fell to 541, down 20 percent from the 676 Chapter 12 filings in FY 2011.

Bankruptcy Filings by Chapter of the Bankruptcy Code
12-Month Periods Ending September 30, 2008-2012

Chapter
Year 7 11 12 13
2012 874,337 10,597 541 375,521
2011 1,036,950 11,979 676 417,503
2010 1,146,511 14,191 707 434,839
2009 989,22 14,745 487 398,210
2008 679,982 8,799 332 353,828

Fourth Quarter Filings

The 3-month period ending September 30, 2012, was the Judiciary's final quarter of fiscal year 2012. For a breakdown of filings by all chapters for the quarter, see Table F-2, 3-month period.

For more on bankruptcy and its chapters, visit the Judiciary's website or go to Federal Judicial Center's website. Local bankruptcy court rules can be found on uscourts.gov. Historic data on bankruptcy filings is available on the Judiciary's website under Bankruptcy Statistics. Additional bankruptcy statistics, including bankruptcies by county, can be found on the Judiciary's PACER system.

Fourth Quarter – Monthly Filings*
July-September, 2009 to 2012

Month Filings

2009

2010

2011

2012

July 133,187 137,324 112,468 99,963
August 127,391 138,359 123,425 107,936
September 127,907 136,697 112,742 90,325
Total 388,485 412,380 348,635 298,224

Quarterly Bankruptcy Filings**

Period Filings Period Filings Period Filings Period Filings
MAR. 31, 2012 322,973 JUN. 30, 2012 325,693 SEPT. 30, 2012 298,224    
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

*The monthly totals in this table are those reported by the courts at the end of each fiscal year. Ongoing revisions to the bankruptcy database may produce different totals for these months at later points in time.

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

Related Topics: Bankruptcy Courts, Bankruptcy Filings