A recent analysis by Epiq AACER indicated that total consumer bankruptcy filings in the United States increased 12% between 2024 and 2025, amid high prices and an unequal economy that has led households to reduce their budgets.

The report detailed that filings increased from 478,752 in 2024 to 533,949 in 2025, and the data highlights that these bankruptcy filings were made under Chapters 7, 11, and 13.

This means that bankruptcy filings encompass both ordinary individuals (Chapters 7 and 13) and businesses and merchants (Chapter 11), and According to experts, they are due to high inflation for both consumers and high financing costs for companies and businesses.

Although bankruptcy filings increased in the last year, according to John Rao, senior attorney at the National Consumer Law Center, “Americans generally postpone filing for bankruptcy as long as they can, which means that the “The conditions that led them to declare bankruptcy may not necessarily be linked to current economic problems,” he said. However, he did not rule out that increasing debt on credit cards, student loans, health insurance, housing, or vehicles pressures many Americans into bankruptcy. "comes a point where the rising bills, the ever-increasing credit card balances, all those things just overwhelm people," Rao commented. Another study conducted by LendingTree last year highlighted that 1 in 10 Americans will declare bankruptcy at some point in their lives, but unfortunately, taking this route to get out of debt can damage many people's credit scores, hindering their ability to make purchases or obtain loans in the future.