Bankruptcy filings rose 13.1 percent during the 12-month period ending March 31, 2025. That is a similar rate of acceleration as in the Dec. 31, 2024, quarterly report, but new bankruptcy cases remain significantly lower than after the 2007-08 Great Recession. 

According to statistics released by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, total filings rose to 529,080 cases, compared with 467,774 cases reported during the year ending March 31, 2024.

Business filings increased 14.7 percent, from 20,316 in March 2024 to 23,309 in the newest report. Non-business filings rose 13.0 percent, from 447,458 in March 2024 to 505,771 in March 2025. 

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.

Business and Non-Business Filings, Years Ending March 31, 2021-2025

Year	Business	Non-Business	Total
2025	23,309	505,771	529,080
2024	20,316	447,458	467,774
2023	14,467	388,806	403,273
2022	13,160	382,213	395,373
2021	19,911	453,438	473,349

Total Bankruptcy Filings By Chapter, Years Ending March 31, 2021-2025

Year	Chapter
	7	11	12	13
2025	320,571	8,844	259	199,130
2024	271,825	8,036	155	187,539
2023	231,200	5,371	148	166,449
2022	265,071	4,333	228	125,655
2021	345,224	7,823	487	119,502

Additional statistics released today include:

• Business and non-business bankruptcy filings for the 12-month period ending March 31, 2025 (Table F-2, 12-month),
• A comparison of 12-month data ending March 2024 and March 2025 (Table F),
• Filings for the most recent three months, (Table F-2, 3-month); and filings by month (Table F-2, January, February, and March),
• Bankruptcy filings by county (Report F-5A).

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

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.

Business and Non-Business Filings,
Years Ending
December 31, 2020-2024

Year	Business	Non-Business	Total
2024	23,107	494,201	517,308
2023	18,926	434,064	452,990
2022	13,481	374,240	387,721
2021	14,347	399,269	413,616
2020	21,655	522,808	544,463

Total Bankruptcy Filings By Chapter,
Years Ending
December 31, 2020-2024

Year	Chapter
	7	11	12	13
2024	310,631	8,884	216	197,244
2023	261,277	7,456	139	183,956
2022	225,455	4,918	169	157,087
2021	288,327	4,836	276	120,002
2020	378,953	8,333	560	156,377

The following bankruptcy filings statistics tables are available: 

• Business and non-business bankruptcy filings for the 12-month period ending Dec. 31, 2024 (Table F-2, 12-Month),
• A comparison of 12-month data ending December 2023 and December 2024 (Table F),
• Filings for the most recent three months, (Table F-2, 3 Month); and filings by month (Table F-2, October, November, December),
• Bankruptcy filings by county (Table F-5A).

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

Personal and business bankruptcy filings rose 16.2 percent in the twelve-month period ending Sept. 30, 2024, compared with the previous year. 

According to statistics released by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, annual bankruptcy filings totaled 504,112 in the year ending September 2024, compared with 433,658 cases in the previous year.

Business filings rose 33.5 percent, from 17,051 to 22,762 in the year ending September 30, 2024. Non-business bankruptcy filings rose 15.5 percent to 481,350, compared with 416,607 in the previous year.

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.

Business and Non-Business Filings,
Years Ending
September 30, 2020-2024

Year	Business	Non-Business	Total
2024	22,762	481,350	504,112
2023	17,051	416,607	433,658
2022	13,125	370,685	383,810
2021	16,140	418,400	434,540
2020	22,391	590,170	612,561

Total Bankruptcy Filings By Chapter,
Years Ending
September 30, 2020-2024

Year	Chapter
	7	11	12	13
2024	298,644	9,012	202	195,971
2023	248,680	6,473	142	178,214
2022	229,703	4,762	182	149,077
2021	310,597	5,622	344	117,784
2020	409,164	8,188	581	194,384

The following bankruptcy filings statistics tables are available: 

• Business and non-business bankruptcy filings for the 12-month period ending Sept. 30, 2024 (Table F-2, 12-Month),
• A comparison of 12-month data ending September 2023 and September 2024 (Table F),
• Filings for the most recent three months, (Table F-2, 3 Month); and filings by month (Table F-2, July, August, September),
• Bankruptcy filings by county (Table F-5A).

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

Personal and business bankruptcy filings rose 16.2 percent in the twelve-month period ending Sept. 30, 2024, compared with the previous year. 

According to statistics released by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, annual bankruptcy filings totaled 504,112 in the year ending September 2024, compared with 433,658 cases in the previous year.

Business filings rose 33.5 percent, from 17,051 to 22,762 in the year ending September 30, 2024. Non-business bankruptcy filings rose 15.5 percent to 481,350, compared with 416,607 in the previous year.

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.

Business and Non-Business Filings,
Years Ending
September 30, 2020-2024

Year	Business	Non-Business	Total
2024	22,762	481,350	504,112
2023	17,051	416,607	433,658
2022	13,125	370,685	383,810
2021	16,140	418,400	434,540
2020	22,391	590,170	612,561

Total Bankruptcy Filings By Chapter,
Years Ending
September 30, 2020-2024

Year	Chapter
	7	11	12	13
2024	298,644	9,012	202	195,971
2023	248,680	6,473	142	178,214
2022	229,703	4,762	182	149,077
2021	310,597	5,622	344	117,784
2020	409,164	8,188	581	194,384

The following bankruptcy filings statistics tables are available: 

• Business and non-business bankruptcy filings for the 12-month period ending Sept. 30, 2024 (Table F-2, 12-Month),
• A comparison of 12-month data ending September 2023 and September 2024 (Table F),
• Filings for the most recent three months, (Table F-2, 3 Month); and filings by month (Table F-2, July, August, September),
• Bankruptcy filings by county (Table F-5A).

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

Bankruptcy filings rose 16 percent during the 12-month period ending March 31, 2024. That is a similar rate of acceleration as in the Dec. 31, 2023, quarterly report, but new bankruptcy cases remain significantly lower than before the start of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

According to statistics released by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, total filings rose to 467,774 new cases, compared with 403,273 cases reported during the year ending March 31, 2023.

Business filings increased 40.4 percent, from 14,467 in March 2023 to 20,316 in the newest report. Non-business filings rose 15.1 percent, from 388,806 in March 2023 to 447,458 in March 2024.

This year’s 12-month filing total for the quarter ending March 31 is nearly three-fifths of the total reported in March 2020, when the pandemic disrupted the U.S. economy. That year’s 12-month total was 764,282.

Additional statistics released today include:

• Business and non-business bankruptcy filings for the 12-month period ending March 31, 2024 (Table F-2, 12-month);
• Bankruptcy data for the twelve-month periods ending in March 2023 and March 2024 (Table F);
• Fourth quarter filings, (Table F-2, 3-month); and filings by month (Table F-2, January, February, and March)
• Bankruptcy filings by county (Report F-5A).

Business and Non-Business Filings,
Years Ending
March 31, 2020-2024

Year	Business	Non-Business	Total
2024	20,316	447,458	467,774
2023	14,467	388,806	403,273
2022	13,160	382,213	395,373
2021	19,911	453,438	473,349
2020	23,114	741,168	764,282

Total Bankruptcy Filings By Chapter,
Years Ending
March 31, 2020-2024

Year	Chapter
	7	11	12	13
2024	271,825	8,036	155	187,539
2023	231,200	5,371	148	166,449
2022	265,071	4,333	228	125,655
2021	345,224	7,823	487	119,502
2020	475,279	7,167	638	281,048

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

Federal and state courts reported a combined 13 percent decrease in authorized wiretaps in 2023, compared with 2022, according to the Judiciary’s 2023 Wiretap Report. Arrests in cases involving electronic surveillance increased, while convictions decreased.

The report covers wire, oral, and electronic intercepts that were concluded between Jan. 1, 2023, and Dec. 31, 2023, exclusive of interceptions regulated by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978. The report is submitted annually to Congress by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AO).

A total of 2,101 wiretaps were reported as authorized in 2023, compared with 2,406 the previous year. Of those, 1,129 were authorized by federal judges, an 11 percent decrease from 2022. State judges authorized 972 wiretaps, a 14 percent decrease from the previous year.

Portable devices, which includes cell phones, accounted for 95 percent of applications for intercepts.

There was an increase in the number of state wiretaps in which encryption was encountered, with 238 such reports in 2023, compared with 192 in 2022. In 218 of the encrypted state wiretaps reported in 2023, officials were unable to decrypt the plain text of messages. A total of 234 federal wiretaps were reported as being encrypted in 2023, of which 207 couldn’t be decrypted.

Drug offenses were the most prevalent type of crime investigated using intercepts. Fifty percent of all wiretap applications in 2023 cited narcotics as the most serious offense under investigation. Conspiracy was the second-most frequently cited crime (11 percent of total applications), and homicide and assault, the third largest category, was cited in about 5 percent of applications.

A total of 5,530 people were arrested as a result of wiretap investigations in 2023, up 5 percent from 2022, and 456 people were convicted in cases involving wiretaps, down 17 percent from the year before.

The District of Utah authorized the most federal wiretaps, accounting for about 6 percent of the applications approved by federal judges. Applications in six states accounted for 85 percent of all wiretaps approved by state judges. Those states were California, New York, North Carolina, Nevada, Florida, and Pennsylvania.

Federal and state laws limit the period of surveillance under an original order to 30 days. However, the period can be extended if a judge determines that additional time is justified. A total of 1,388 extensions were authorized in 2023, an increase of 2 percent from the year prior.

The Western District of Pennsylvania conducted the longest federal intercept that was terminated in 2023. An order was extended nine times to complete a 280-day wiretap in a narcotics investigation. The longest state-authorized wiretap occurred in Monroe, New York, where an original order was extended 26 times to complete a 733-day wiretap used in a narcotics investigation.

The average cost of a wiretap in 2023 was approximately $1.7 million, up significantly from the prior year. The increase was due to a state wiretap, conducted in Suffolk, New York, as part of a sweeping investigation into illegal drugs, which resulted in 29 arrests. The average cost of federal wiretaps in 2023 was $105,754, a 9 percent increase from 2022. The numbers include the cost of installing intercept devices and monitoring communications.

The AO is required by statute to report annually to Congress by June 30 on the number and nature of wiretaps concluded in the prior year. No report to the AO is needed when an order is issued with the consent of one of the principal parties to the communication. No report is required for the use of a pen register unless the pen register is used in conjunction with any other wiretap devices whose use must be recorded. 

Personal and business bankruptcy filings rose 16.2 percent in the twelve-month period ending June 30, 2024, compared with the previous year. 

According to statistics released by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, annual bankruptcy filings totaled 486,613 in the year ending June 2024, compared with 418,724 cases in the previous year.

Business filings rose 40.3 percent, from 15,724 to 22,060 in the year ending June 30, 2024. Non-business bankruptcy filings rose 15.3 percent to 464,553, compared with 403,000 in the previous year.

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.

Business and Non-Business Filings,
Years Ending
June 30, 2020-2024

Year	Business	Non-Business	Total
2024	22,060	464,553	486,613
2023	15,724	403,000	418,724
2022	12,748	367,886	380,634
2021	18,511	443,798	462,309
2020	22,482	659,881	682,363

Total Bankruptcy Filings By Chapter,
Years Ending
June 30, 2020-2024

Year	Chapter
	7	11	12	13
2024	284,975	8,717	181	192,421
2023	239,125	5,986	147	173,362
2022	239,750	4,429	201	136,169
2021	335,886	6,871	438	118,864
2020	436,919	7,568	589	237,099

The following bankruptcy filings statistics tables are available: 

• Business and non-business bankruptcy filings for the 12-month period ending June 30, 2024 (Table F-2, 12-Month),
• A comparison of 12-month data ending June 2023 and June 2024 (Table F),
• Second quarter filings, (Table F-2, 3 Month); and filings by month (Table F-2, April, May, June),
• Bankruptcy filings by county (Table F-5A).

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

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3. Federal judiciary seeks more money for security…

Court Security

Federal judiciary seeks more money for security amid rise in threats

By Debra Cassens Weiss

March 5, 2024, 2:46 pm CST

The federal judiciary is citing “evolving” risks and a “significant increase in threats against federal judges” as some of the reasons for a requested increase in its security budget.

The U.S. Supreme Court is requesting $19.4 million to expand security and transfer responsibility for protecting justices’ homes to the high court’s own police force, Reuters reports.

The security budget request for other federal judges has increased by $39.5 million to cover “additional security and equipment” and other security needs, according to the fiscal year 2025 budget request.

The request comes amid a Reuters investigation published last week that found an “unprecedented wave of threats” in cases related to former President Donald Trump.

According to the wire service, the annual average of harassing and threatening communications directed at federal judges, federal prosecutors, judicial staff and court buildings increased from 1,180 incidents in the decade before Trump’s 2015 presidential campaign to 3,810 in seven years that followed.

Trump is a defendant in four criminal cases alleging 91 felonies, Reuters points out.

“Trump has fused the roles of candidate and defendant,” the wire service reports. “He attacks judges as political foes, demonizes prosecutors and casts the judicial system as biased against him and his supporters.”

Jon Trainum, who previously oversaw the U.S. Marshals Service’s unit that investigated judicial threats, told Reuters that whenever a case against Trump was in court, “we would see a noticeable uptick in threats directed at whatever judge had the case.”

U.S. marshals investigated more than 1,200 threats against federal judges that they deemed to be serious in the last four years. Reuters identified 57 federal prosecutions involving judiciary threats, 47 of which involved threats against federal judges.

There is no comparable data for threats and intimidation against state court judges. But a survey by the National Judicial College of mostly state judges in 2022 found that nearly 90% were worried about their safety. One out of three had carried a gun for protection at some point.

The wire service spoke with Senior U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth of the District of Columbia, who said he was unprepared for the amount of death threats and harassment directed at him when he began hearing cases of defendants accused in the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot. Lamberth received threats on his home phone and his chambers voicemail.

U.S. marshals found the man calling Lamberth’s home and warned him to stop. They also upgraded Lamberth’s home security system.

“Living this way, it does change your life,” Lamberth said.

Total bankruptcy filings rose 16.8 percent, with significant increases in both business and non-business bankruptcies, in the twelve-month period ending Dec. 31, 2023. This accelerates a continuing 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 452,990 in the year ending December 2023, compared with 387,721 cases in the previous year.

Business filings rose 40.4 percent, from 13,481 to 18,926, in the year ending Dec. 31, 2023. Non-business bankruptcy filings rose 16 percent to 434,064, compared with 374,240 in December 2022.

Bankruptcy totals for the previous 12 months are reported four times annually.

This is the fourth straight quarter that total bankruptcy filings have risen, following a decade-plus decline. Bankruptcies fell especially sharply after the pandemic began in early 2020, despite some COVID-related disruptions to the economy.

Despite the recent increases, the newest totals remain far lower than in December 2010, when filings peaked at just less than 1.6 million.

Business and Non-Business Filings,
Years Ending
December 31, 2019-2023

Year	Business	Non-Business	Total
2023	18,926	434,064	452,990
2022	13,481	374,240	387,721
2021	14,347	399,269	413,616
2020	21,655	522,808	544,463
2019	22,780	752,160	774,940

Total Bankruptcy Filings By Chapter,
Years Ending
December 31, 2019-2023

Year	Chapter
	7	11	12	13
2023	261,277	7,456	139	183,956
2022	225,455	4,918	169	157,087
2021	288,327	4,836	276	120,002
2020	378,953	8,333	560	156,377
2019	480,206	7,020	599	286,979

The following bankruptcy filings statistics tables are available: 

• Business and non-business bankruptcy filings for the 12-month period ending Dec. 31, 2023 (Table F-2, 12-Month),
• A comparison of 12-month data ending December 2022 and December 2023 (Table F),
• Filings for the most recent three months, (Table F-2, 3 Month); and filings by individual months (Table F-2, October, November, December),
• Bankruptcy filings by county (Table F-5A).

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

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