ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The total number of U.S. bankruptcies filed during the first six months climbed 36 percent over the same period in 2008, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute.

Total filings reached 711,550 during the first half of the calendar year 2009, compared with 522,205 cases filed over the same period in 2008.

"The increase in filings through the first half of this year is a product of continued financial stresses weighing on both consumers and businesses," said Samuel Gerdano, ABI executive director. "In this challenging economic environment, we expect bankruptcies to surge past 1.4 million by year end."

Business filings for the six-month period ending June 30, totaled 30,333, representing a 64-percent increase over the first-half 2008 total of 18,456.

Chapter 11 business reorganizations were up 113 percent to 7,396 from 3,470 in the same period of 2008. Chapter 7 business liquidations increased to 20,375 in the first half of 2009, a 57-percent upswing over the 13,002 business chapter 7 filings during the same period in 2008.

Filings by individuals or households with consumer debt increased 35 percent to 681,217 for the six-month period, compared with the 2008 first-half total of 503,749, officials highlighted.

The overall percentage of consumers filing for chapter 13 protection fell slightly from 34 percent during the first half of last year to 28 percent over the same period in 2009.

Conversely, the first-half 2009 percentage of chapter 7 consumer filers increased to 72 percent from the 66 percent recorded in the first half of 2008.

The 381,073 total filings for the second calendar quarter 2009 represented a 38-percent increase from the second quarter 2008 filing total of 276,510.

Business filings in the second quarter of 2009 increased 64 percent to 16,014 over the 9,743 business filings in the second quarter of the previous year.

The second quarter business filings were the highest total since the second quarter of 1993 when business filings reached 16,424, ABI pointed out. Meanwhile, consumer filings increased 37 percent from 266,767 recorded in the second quarter of 2008 to 365,059 filings in the second quarter 2009.

The 1,306,315 total filings for the 12-month period ending June 30 represented a 35-percent jump from the same period in 2008, which totaled 967,831.

The bankruptcy filing rate per thousand U.S. residents totaled 4.22 for all chapters during the 12-month period ending June 30, with an average of 2.93 Americans per thousand filed for chapter 7 while 1.24 per thousand filed for chapter 13 bankruptcy.

Nevada was the state with the highest per capita filing rate in the country with 9.33 residents per thousand filing in all chapters, and also had the highest per capita filing rate for chapter 7 filings at 6.67.

The state with the highest per capita filing rate for chapter 13 bankruptcy was Tennessee at 4.35 per thousand for the 12-month period.

Non-business filings for the 12-month period were up to 1,251,294, a 34-percent increase from the 934,009 total non-business filings over the same period in 2008.

Business filings for the 12-month period totaled 55,021, up 63 percent from the 33,822 bankruptcy petitions filed in the 12-month period ending June 30, 2008.

The 907,603 total chapter 7 filings for the 12-month period ending June 30, 2009, represent a 47-percent climb from the 615,748 filings from the same period in 2008.

Total chapter 11 filings increased 91 percent to 13,951 in the 12-month period from 7,293 during the same time frame in 2008. Total chapter 13 filings also grew 12 percent to 384,187 in the 12-month time frame from 344,421 during the same period last year.

Chapter 12 filings increased 34 percent from 314 in the 12-month period ending June 30, 2008 to 422 in 2009.

Chapter breakdowns of business filings for the three-month period ending June 30: 10,675 chapter 7; 3,965 chapter 11; 139 chapter 12; and 1,175 chapter 13.

Chapter breakdown of non-business filings for the three-month period ending June 30: 265,368 chapter 7; 383 chapter 11; and 99,308 chapter 13.