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Karen Redmond, 202-502-2600
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December 1 , 2005 — Bankruptcy cases filed in federal courts grew 10 percent in fiscal year 2005, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts—rising to the highest number of bankruptcies ever filed.

During the 12-month period ending September 30, 2005, 1,782,643 bankruptcies were filed, up from the 1,618,987 bankruptcy cases filed in fiscal year 2004.

Filings for the 3-month period from June 30, 2005 to September 30, 2005, also were the highest number filed for any quarter in the history of bankruptcy, totaling 542,002. The large number of filings is due to the many individuals who filed for bankruptcy before October 17, 2005, the implementation date of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005.

The federal Judiciary's fiscal year is the 12-month period ending September 30. The bankruptcies reported are for October 1, 2004 through September 30, 2005.

Here are the F-2 bankruptcy statistics tables for the 12-month and 3-month period ending September 30, 2005, and the F-2 Table comparing 2004 and 2005: Table F (12 Month Period) (xls) and Table F-2 (3 Months Period) (xls), and Table F-2 (12 Months Period) (xls).

Business and Non-Business Filings

Business bankruptcies for FY 2005 fell 2 percent to 34,222, from the 34,817 business bankruptcies filed in FY 2004. Non-business or personal bankruptcies rose 10 percent in FY 2005, to total 1,748,421, up from 1,584,170 in FY 2004. This is the largest number of non-business bankruptcy filings ever reported for a 12-month period.

Filings Under Chapters 7, 11, 12 and 13

In FY 2005, filings under Chapters 7 and 12 of the Bankruptcy Code rose, while filings under Chapters 11 and 13 fell.

• Chapter 7 filings in FY 2005 totaled 1,346,201, up 17 percent from 1,153,865 in FY 2004.
• Chapter 12 is designed to meet the needs of financially distressed family farmers. In FY 2005, Chapter 12 filings totaled 364, up 53 percent from the 238 cases filed in FY 2004.
• Chapter 11 filings dropped 36 percent, falling from 10,368 in FY 2004 to 6,637 in FY 2005.
• Chapter 13 filings declined 6 percent, falling from 454,412 in FY 2004 to 429,316 in FY 2005.

Fourth Quarter Filings

The 3-month period ending September 30, 2005, was the Judiciary's final quarter of FY 2005. Bankruptcy filings in the fourth quarter totaled 542,002, the highest total filings ever recorded for a quarter. For a breakdown of filings by all chapters for the quarter, see (link to Table F-2, 3-month period.)

For more on bankruptcy, visit Bankruptcy Basics or the Federal Judicial Center. In addition, historic data on bankruptcy filings is available under Bankruptcy Statistics.

Quarterly Filings*

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

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