by Calculated Risk on 2/04/2025 04:40:00 PM
From the U.S. Courts: Bankruptcy Filings Rise 14.2 Percent
Total bankruptcy filings rose 14.2 percent, with increases in both business and non-business bankruptcies, in the twelve-month period ending Dec. 31, 2024. This continues an ongoing rebound in filings after more than a decade of sharply dropping totals.
According to statistics released by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, annual bankruptcy filings totaled 517,308 in the year ending December 2024, compared with 452,990 cases in the previous year.
Business filings rose 22.1 percent, from 18,926 to 23,107, in the year ending Dec. 31, 2024. Non-business bankruptcy filings rose 13.9 percent to 494,201, compared with 434,064 in December 2023.
Bankruptcy totals for the previous 12 months are reported four times annually.
For more than a decade, total filings fell steadily, from a high of nearly 1.6 million in September 2010 to a low of 380,634 in June 2022. Total filings have increased each quarter since then, but they remain far lower than historical highs.
emphasis added
Click on graph for larger image.
This graph shows the business and non-business bankruptcy filings by calendar year since 1997.
The sharp decline in 2006 was due to the so-called “Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005”.
2024 was the 4th lowest year for bankruptcy filings, and 33% below the pre-pandemic level in 2019.
