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Bankruptcy Filings Continue to Fall

Published onOctober 31, 2022

Personal and business bankruptcy filings fell 11.7 percent for the 12-month period ending Sept. 30, 2022. Filings continued a fall that coincided with the start of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

According to statistics released by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the September 2022 annual bankruptcy filings totaled 383,810, compared with 434,540 cases in the previous year.

Business filings fell 18.7 percent, from 16,140 to 13,125 in the year ending Sept. 30, 2022. Non-business bankruptcy filings fell 11.4 percent to 370,685, compared with 418,400 in the previous year.

Filings for Chapter 13 increased 26.6 percent, from 117,784 to 149,077 in the year ending Sept. 30, 2022. This chapter of the Bankruptcy Code provides for adjustment of debts of an individual with regular income.

The following bankruptcy filings statistics tables are available:

  • Business and non-business bankruptcy filings for the 12-month period ending Sept. 30, 2022 (Table F-2, 12-Month);
  • Bankruptcy data for the twelve-month periods ending in September 2021 and September 2022 (Table F);
  • Filings by quarter, (Table F-2, 3 Month); and filings by month (Table F-2, July, August, and September);
  • Bankruptcy filings by county (Table F-5A).
Business and Non-Business Filings,
Years Ending
September 30, 2018-2022
Year Business Non-Business Total
2022 13,125 370,685 383,810
2021 16,140 418,400 434,540
2020 22,391 590,170 612,561
2019 22,910 753,764 776,674
2018 22,103 751,272 773,375
Total Bankruptcy Filings By Chapter,
Years Ending
September 30, 2018-2022
Year Chapter
  7 11 12 13
2022 229,703 4,762 182 149,077
2021 310,597 5,622 344 117,784
2020 409,164 8,188 581 194,384
2019 478,838 7,320 583 289,802
2018 477,248 7,014 468 288,550

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

Related Topics: Bankruptcy Filings