Bankruptcy filings continue to increase, says federal court administration
Bankruptcy filings increased 11% in the last year, according to statistics released Wednesday by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. (Image from Shutterstock)
Bankruptcy filings increased 11% in the last year, according to statistics released Wednesday by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
Annual bankruptcy filings totaled 574,314 for the year ending December 2025, compared with 517,308 cases in the previous year, according to the federal court administration.
Business filings went up 7.1%, from 23,107 to 24,737, while nonbusiness bankruptcy filings increased 11.2% to 549,577, compared with 494,201 in December 2024. Chapter 7 liquidations, the most common type of personal bankruptcy, led at 356,724 in 2025, increasing from 310,631 in 2024, according to the federal court administration.
For more than a decade, total filings trended downward from a high of nearly 1.6 million in September 2010 to a low of 380,634 in June 2022. Bankruptcy filings have increased each quarter since then, but they remain far lower than historical highs, according to the federal court administration.
Write a letter to the editor, share a story tip or update, or report an error.
