Earlier this year, the U.S. government released reports documenting business bankruptcy filings in 2025. What they found is that these bankruptcies increased by a significant amount, rising by 7.1% during the course of the year.
In 2024, there were 23,107 business bankruptcies. The 7.1% increase is due to the fact that there were 24,737 business bankruptcies in 2025.
There has been a corresponding rise in personal bankruptcies, which went up by 11.2% over the same time period. Personal bankruptcies are much more common than commercial bankruptcies, with a total of 549,577 bankruptcies declared in 2025.
3 years of increases
On a long-term scale, bankruptcies had been dropping and had been doing so for over a decade. But that reversed course in 2022. That year, there were a low of 13,481 business bankruptcy filings. Every year since, the total has increased, culminating in more than 24,000 business bankruptcies last year.
It will be very interesting to see if the same trend continues in 2026. Government reports do note that filings have not increased to historical highs, even if there has been a stark reversal from the decrease in bankruptcy filings seen in previous years.
What are your bankruptcy options?
Reports like these help demonstrate that bankruptcy is a growing issue in the United States and could affect more and more business owners in the months and years to come. If you find yourself in this position, it is very important to understand exactly what bankruptcy options you have and what steps you will need to take while navigating this process.