Shoppers on Black Friday at a mall in Bethesda, Md., on Nov. 28, 2025. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times
Total bankruptcy filings in 2025 rose by 11 percent in the United States from the previous year to 565,759 cases, the American Bankruptcy Institute said in a Jan. 6 statement.
Individual filings increased by 12 percent annually, while Chapter 7 filings rose by 15 percent and Chapter 13 filings by 6 percent. Chapter 7 is a liquidation bankruptcy in which assets are sold to pay off creditors, while Chapter 13 is a reorganization bankruptcy in which a person makes monthly payments for a period of three to five years until creditors are fully paid.
