ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The American Bankruptcy Institute discovered that the total number of U.S. bankruptcies filed during the first half of this year fell 8 percent when compared to the same period in 2010.

This was due largely in part to the deleveraging of household debt, as well as improving consumer credit conditions, officials noted.

According to data released by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, total filings for the six months of 2011 came to 745,968, down from 810,209 over the same period in 2010.

"The broad trend of a leveling or even decline in consumer bankruptcies in tandem with a sluggish economy is a reflection of the deleveraging of household debts and tightening of consumer credit over the past year," said ABI executive director Samuel Gerdano.

"Should these trends persist, we expect to see fewer consumer bankruptcies in 2011 than were filed in 2010,” he continued.

Though the first half of 2011 saw a downturn in filings year-over-year, total bankruptcy filings actually rose 4 percent for the second quarter of 2011 to 379,790 filings, when compared to first quarter data for the same year, which came in at 366,178 filings.

This increase was due to a rise in consumer bankruptcy filings, according to officials.

Moving on to the business sector, filings decreased a significant 15 percent for the first half of this year, coming in at 24,680, compared to the same period of 2010, which saw 29,059 filings.

Chapter 7 business liquidations also fell by 15 percent, as there were 17,284 in the first half of this year, compared with the 20,385 business chapter 7 filings during the same period in 2010.

Registering the sharpest decrease was Chapter 11 business reorganizations, which came in at 5,172 filings during the first half of 2011, representing a 16-percent drop from the 6,152 total chapter 11 business filings during the first half of 2010.

Lastly, total business filings decreased a bit (1 percent) from 12,376 in 1Q of this year to 12,304 in the 1Q.

Filings by individuals or households with consumer debt also saw a downturn, decreasing by 8 percent to 721,288 filings for the first half of this year, when compared 781,150 during the same period of 2010.

Consumers filing for chapter 7 protection decreased 9 percent to 518,097 during the first half of this year from 571,417 during the first six months of 2010.

Consumer chapter 13 filings dropped, as well, decreasing 3 percent, as 202,292 consumers filed for chapter 13 in the first half of this year, down from 208,778 during the same period of 2010.

On the other hand, the 367,486 total consumer filings for the second quarter of this year showed a 4-percent increase from the 353,802 total consumer filings in the first quarter.

Moving on to highlight other significant numbers from this year's second quarter, total bankruptcy filings (379,790) saw a 10-percent decrease when compared to the second quarter of 2010 total of 422,061.

Consumer filings also decreased 10 percent from 407,609 recorded in the second quarter of 2010 to 367,486 filings during the second quarter of this year.

Business filings decreased 15 percent from 14,452 in the second quarter of 2010 to 12,304 filings in the same period this year.

Also, noting the total filings for the 12-month period ending June 30, the 1,529,560 total filings represented a 3-percent overall decrease from the same period in 2010, which totaled 1,572,597.

The bankruptcy filing rate per thousand U.S. residents totaled 4.85 for all chapters during the 12-month period ending June 30, as 3.44 Americans per thousand filed for chapter 7, while 1.37 per thousand filed for chapter 13 bankruptcy, officials noted.

Moving on to highlight non-business filings for the same 12 month period, filings were down to 1,477,426, a 2 percent decrease from the 1,512,989 filings over the same period in 2010.

Business filings for the same period totaled 52,134, down 13 percent from the 59,608 business bankruptcy petitions filed in the same period of 2010.

Also, the 1,083,671 total chapter 7 filings for the 12-month period ending June 30 represent a 4-percent decrease from the 1,133,320 filings from the same period in 2010.

Total chapter 11 filings decreased 11 percent to 12,714 during the same period, compared to 14,272 in 2010.

Wrapping up, chapter 13 filings increased 2 percent to 432,333 in the 12-month period ending June 30, from 424,242 during the same period last year, and chapter 12 filings increased 8 percent from 660 during the same period of 2010, to 717 for 2011.

Lastly, the ABI noted that Nevada maintained its position as the state with the highest per capita filing rate in the country, with 10.13 residents per thousand filing in all chapters.

The state also had the highest per capita filing rate for chapter 7 filings, coming in at 7.62.

Alabama holds the title of the state with the highest per capita filing rate for chapter 13 bankruptcy, coming in at 3.92 per thousand for the 12-month period ending June 30.