Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Filings (YoY % Change)

The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts counts Chapter 7 cases filed in the federal bankruptcy courts over a rolling 12 months, business and nonbusiness together. We compare each 12-month total with the one ending on the same date a year earlier. For the 12 months through Q2 2026, the count was 14.7% higher than in the same 12 months a year earlier. That change is down from 17% a year earlier, in Q2 2025. It is the lowest year-over-year change since Q3 2023.

A change above zero means more Chapter 7 cases were filed than in the same 12 months a year earlier. When the change gets smaller but stays above zero, the count is still growing, only more slowly; it does not mean filings fell.

Growth has slowed from a year earlier for five straight quarters.

Chapter 7 is the liquidation chapter of the Bankruptcy Code: a trustee can sell property the law does not protect and pay creditors from the proceeds. Individuals, partnerships and corporations can all file under it. A filing starts a case; it does not show whether debts were discharged or the case was dismissed.

Each quarter brings a new 12-month total, so two readings in a row share nine of their 12 months. Chapter 13 filings, all bankruptcy filings and the chapter ratio use the same court tables. None of them says why people filed or why they chose one chapter over the other.