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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 Filings,
Years Ending
December 31, 2015-2019
Year Business Non-Business Total
2019 22,780 752,160 774,940
2018 22,232 751,186 773,418
2017 23,157 765,863 789,020
2016 24,114 770,846 794,960
2015 24,735 819,760 844,495
Total Bankruptcy Filings By Chapter,
Years Ending
December 31, 2015-2019
Year Chapter
  7 11 12 13
2019 480,206 7,020 599 286,979
2018 475,575 7,095 498 290,146
2017 486,347 7,442 501 294,637
2016 490,365 7,292 461 296,655
2015 535,047 7,241 407 301,705

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

Related Topics: Bankruptcy Filings