ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The American Bankruptcy Institute recently shared data from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts that confirmed a sharp rise in total bankruptcy filings last year.

The 2009 bankruptcy total jumped 32 percent over the figure recorded for 2008. ABI indicated that bankruptcy filings came in at 1,473,675 for the 12-month period ending Dec. 31. In 2008, a total of 1,117,641 were filed.

ABI officials reiterated that total filings have continued to increase since the implementation of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005

"The figures confirm the economic stress that businesses and consumers continue to endure," explained ABI executive director Samuel Gerdano.

"As more families and businesses seek the financial relief of bankruptcy, the filing totals are likely to surpass last year," Gerdano added.

ABI mentioned that bankruptcies peaked in 2005. That's when 2,078,415 cases were filed in advance of a change in the law.

Looking deeper into the 2009 statistics, analysts found that business bankruptcies increased to 60,837 filings. They noted that the total represented a 40-percent increase in filings from the 43,533 in 2008.

ABI also mentioned that the 12-month business filing total for 2009 was the highest since 62,304 filings were recorded for the 1993 calendar year. 

Elsewhere, the institute indicated that the 1,412,838 consumer filings during the 2009 calendar year represented a 32-percent increase over the 1,074,225 filings recorded in 2008.

Chapter 7 filings came in at 1,008,870 last year. The total was a 41-percent increase over the 714,389 consumer Chapter 7 filings during all of 2008.

ABI also determined that Chapter 7 filings composed 71 percent of the total consumer filings. In 2008, that percentage was 67.

"The percentage of consumers filing under Chapter 7 has increased each year since BAPCPA was implemented at the end of 2005," officials stressed.

Conversely, ABI found that the percentage of consumers filing for Chapter 13 bankruptcy has steadily declined since BAPCPA's implementation.

The 402,462 consumers who filed for Chapter 13 during the 12-month period ending Dec. 31 composed 28 percent of the overall consumer filing total. ABI found that the consumer Chapter 13 total for 2009 represents just a 12-percent increase over the 358,947 filings during 2008.

Along with looking at the overall 2009 figures, ABI also shared how the data broke down by geographic area.

 States With Highest Per Capita Filing Rate in 2009
 Rank  State 
 1.  Nevada
 2.  Tennessee
 3.  Georgia
 4.  Indiana
 5.  Alabama
 6.  Michigan
 7.  Ohio
 8.  Kentucky
 9.  Illinois
 10.  Arkansas

 Districts With Highest Percentage Increase in 2009 Total Filings
 District  Percentage 
 District of Arizona   +77
 Central District of California   +65
 District of the Virgin Islands   +61
 District of Nevada   +59
 District of Wyoming   +59

 Districts With Lowest Percentage Increase in 2009 Total Filings
 District   Percentage 
 District of the Northern Mariana Islands   -33
 Western District of Tennessee   +4
 Western District of New York   +6
 Western District of Pennsylvania   +7
 Northern District of New York   +10

Fourth Quarter Bankruptcy Statistics

ABI also offered details about bankruptcies filed during the fourth quarter of 2009.

The institute found that 372,203 total bankruptcies were filed between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31. The figure was a 24-percent increase from the 301,317 filings during the same period in 2008.

However, the amount of bankruptcies in the fourth quarter of 2009 slipped by 4 percent as compared to the previous quarter. ABI noted that 388,485 fillings occurred in the third quarter of last year.

Of the entire fourth quarter total, 357,183 were consumer filings, a 24-percent hike from the figure during the last quarter of 2008. ABI said 288,416 consumer filings happened in the closing quarter of 2008.

Mirroring the overall filing total, ABI indicated that the consumer filings the fourth calendar quarter of 2009 represented a 4-percent decrease from the third quarter 2009 total of 373,308 consumer filings.

Moving on to business filings, the institute noted that these came in at 15,020 for the fourth quarter of 2009. The total represented a 16-percent increase from the 12,901 filed in the same three-month period in 2008.

ABI pointed out that business filings in the last quarter of 2009 decreased slightly from the 15,177 business filings reported during the third quarter of last year.

The chapter breakdown of business filings for the three-month period ending Dec. 31 was 10,604 Chapter 7s, 3,176 Chapter 11s, 148 Chapter 12s and 1,062 Chapter 13s.

The chapter breakdown of consumer filings for the same quarter was 253,153 Chapter 7s, 437 Chapter 11s and 103,593 Chapter 13s.