Total bankruptcy filings were 36,607 in January 2024, a 17 percent increase from the January 2023 total of 31,176, according to data provided by Epiq Bankruptcy, the leading provider of U.S. bankruptcy filing data. January marks 18 consecutive months that total, individual, and commercial bankruptcy filings have registered monthly year-over-year increases. Individual bankruptcy filings also increased 17 percent in January to 34,515, up from the January 2023 individual filing total of 29,448. There were 19,590 individual chapter 7 filings in January 2024, a 25 percent increase over the 15,717 filings recorded in January 2023, and there were 14,871 individual chapter 13 filings in January 2024, a 9 percent increase over the 13,678 filings last January. Overall commercial bankruptcy filings rose 21 percent in January 2024, with the 2,092 filings ticking up from the 1,728 filings in January 2023. There were 460 commercial chapter 11 filings recorded in January 2024, a 22 percent increase from the 378 commercial chapter 11s in January 2023. Small business filings, captured as subchapter V elections within chapter 11, increased 43 percent to 176 in January 2024, up from 123 in January 2023.
