ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The American Bankruptcy Institute pinpointed just how difficult it's been on consumers by sharing exactly how many filings occurred in 2009 and possible trends for this year.

Officials revealed data from the National Bankruptcy Research Center that determined overall consumer filings totaled 1,407,788 during the 2009 calendar year. That amount represented a 32-percent increase from the total consumer filings recorded during 2008. That year's amount was 1,064,927.

ABI also pointed out that annual consumer filings have increased each year since 2005. That's when the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Prevention Act came into effect.

Samuel Gerdano, executive director of ABI, shared his assessment of what the 2009 total represented and what could take place this year.

"A combination of economic stress, including high debt loads, rising unemployment and unsustainable mortgage burdens, left many consumers with little choice but to seek the financial relief of bankruptcy," Gerdano explained.

"As these strains continue for U.S. households, we expect that consumer filings will rise still higher in 2010," he added.

ABI also shared data for the amount of consumer filings for the last month of 2009. A total of 113,274 filings occurred in December. Officials calculated that it was a 33-percent increase from amount filed in December of the previous year. A total of 84,926 filings occurred in December 2008.

However, the December 2009 bankruptcy total did represent a decrease in one area. ABI determined that Chapter 13 filings constituted 28 percent of all consumer cases in December, a slight decrease from the previous month.