Industry Monthly Bankruptcy Report - December 2025 / National Bankruptcy Services, LLC
- Jim OReilly
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Attached you will find industry bankruptcy filing statistics listed by jurisdiction and bankruptcy chapter for December 2025.
Total bankruptcy filings were 45,935 in December 2025, a twenty percent increase from the December 2024 total of 38,163. The consumer bankruptcy filing total of 43,387 climbed twenty-one percent over the 35,789 consumer filings in December 2024. Consumer Chapter 7 filings were 27,150 in December 2025, up twenty-four percent from the 21,911 Chapter 7 filings in December 2024, while consumer Chapter 13s increased seventeen percent to 16,147 in December from 13,809 in 2024.
Total bankruptcy filings in calendar year 2025 were 565,759, an eleven percent increase from the 508,953 registered during 2024. While representing a substantial year-over-year increase, total bankruptcy filings remain 28 percent lower than the pre-pandemic total of 757,816 recorded in calendar year 2019.
Overall consumer filing totals for calendar year 2025 were 533,949, representing a twelve percent increase from the 478,752 consumer filings in 2024. Consumer Chapter 7 filings increased by fifteen percent to 332,706 in calendar year 2025 from 2024’s total of 288,908. The 200,055 consumer Chapter 13 bankruptcy filings in calendar year 2025 represented a six percent increase over 2024.
Per the 2025 Year End Report on the Federal Judiciary from U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, “of the 90 bankruptcy courts, 83 courts received more petitions in 2025 than in the prior year, although just three courts— the Northern District of Texas, the Eastern District of Texas, and the District of Minnesota—received more filings this year than they had received prior to the COVID19 pandemic.”
Commercial bankruptcy filings increased five percent to 31,810 in calendar year 2025 from the 30,201 registered in 2024. Commercial Chapter 11 filings increased one percent in 2025 to 7940 from 7893 filings in 2024. Small business subchapter V elections within Chapter 11 rose eleven percent in 2025 to 2446 from the 2202 recorded in 2024.
Overall commercial filings also increased seven percent in December 2025, as the 2548 filings were up from the 2374 commercial filings registered in December 2024. The 592 commercial Chapter 11 filings in December represent a six percent increase from the 556 Chapter 11 filings in December 2024. Subchapter V elections within Chapter 11 increased by thirty-six percent in December 2025 to 238 from the 176 filings recorded in December 2024.
Also attached is a presentation showing the filings by month and by year from 2014 to 2025, growth in filings per court day and bankruptcy filings per region. In addition, we have also provided a Market Trends report comparing the historical correlation between new bankruptcy filings to unemployment rates by chapter type, and chapter, state, and court rankings by percentage change.
Jim O'Reilly
Executive Vice President
National Bankruptcy Services, LLC
14841 Dallas Parkway, Suite 300
Dallas, TX 75254
Direct Line: 214-860-6973