The annual and December 2024 individual insolvency stats for England and Wales have been published by The Insolvency Service, together with related figures for Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Individual insolvency statistics for England and Wales – 2024

In 2024, 117,947 individuals entered insolvency in England & Wales. This was 14% higher than in 2023. The total amount of individual insolvencies consisted of:

• 67,100 individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs)
• 43,249 debt relief orders (DROs)
• 7,598 bankruptcies

In 2024, 57% of individual insolvencies were IVAs, 37% were DROs, and 6% were bankruptcies.

IVAs

In 2024 IVAs increased slightly on 2023 levels but remained below the record annual numbers seen between 2018 and 2022.

DROs

DROs in 2024 was a record annual high, 36% higher than 2023 numbers. This was also 71% higher than the 2014 to 2023 annual average of 25,365.

This followed the removal of the £90 administration fee to obtain a DRO from 6 April 2024 and the expansion of eligibility criteria in June 2024.

Bankruptcies

Bankruptcy numbers were slightly lower in 2024 than in 2023. Numbers in both years were higher than the 40-year low seen in 2022, but remained at less than half of pre-2020 levels.

In 2024, there were 7,598 bankruptcies, consisting of:

• 5,781 resulting from debtors’ applications, which was 4% lower than in 2023
• 1,817 resulting from creditors’ petitions, which was 7% higher than in 2023

Individual insolvency statistics for England and Wales – December 2024

In December 2024, 10,050 individuals entered insolvency in England & Wales. This was similar to levels in November 2024 and 23% higher than in December 2023. The total amount of individual insolvencies consisted of:

• 6,028 individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs)
• 3,473 debt relief orders (DROs)
• 549 bankruptcies

IVAs

The number of IVAs was 4% higher than November 2024 and 36% higher than December 2023 after seasonal adjustment.

DROs

The number of DROs in December 2024 were slightly less than the numbers seen in November 2024 and 20% lower than the record high monthly numbers seen in June 2024.

Bankruptcies

The number of bankruptcies in December 2024 was lower than monthly numbers seen over the past 12 months. Bankruptcy numbers have declined since 2009 and fell further during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bankruptcies in December 2024 consisted of:

• 429 resulting from debtors’ applications, which was 3% lower than in November 2024 and 22% lower than in December 2023.
• 120 resulting from creditors’ petitions, which was 23% lower than in November 2024 and 26% lower than in December 2023.

Individual insolvency rate statistics for England and Wales – 2024

The individual liquidation rate in 2024 was 24.1 per 10,000 adults in England and Wales. This corresponds to 1 in 415 adults having entered an insolvency procedure in the past 12 months.

The rate in 2024 was higher than the rate in 2023. The increase was driven by higher rates of DROs over the past year, along with a slight increase in the IVA rate, while the bankruptcy rate remained stable.

Individual insolvency statistics for Scotland – Q3 2024

The Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB), Scotland’s Insolvency Service, administers individual insolvency in Scotland. The AiB produces individual insolvency statistics on a quarterly basis. Therefore, the numbers in this section are updated once every three months only.

In Q3 2024, there were 1,891 individual insolvencies in Scotland, which was similar levels to the same quarter of 2023. The individual insolvencies were comprised of:

• 1,327 protected trust deeds
• 564 sequestrations (of which 299 went into bankruptcy via the minimal asset process route)

Individual insolvency statistics for Northern Ireland – December 2024

In Northern Ireland in December 2024, there were 101 individual insolvencies, which was 33% higher than in December 2023. Of the total individual insolvencies, there were:

• 84 IVAs
• 9 DROs
• 8 bankruptcies

Please note, individual insolvency in Northern Ireland is governed by separate, but broadly similar, legislation to England and Wales, and so figures are presented separately.

Where can I see insolvency notices in The Gazette?

The Gazette is the primary source of both corporate insolvency and personal insolvency information in the UK and publishes this information in the form of insolvency notices, allowing transparency for the public, the credit industry and concerned individuals to quantify risk and inform creditors. You can view all corporate and personal insolvency notices on The Gazette website.

The Gazette also provides a Data Service which provides timely official company, insolvency and deceased estates information to aid data driven decision-making. As the UK’s official public record, our authorised data can help your business with:

• KYC/due diligence
• risk management
• regulatory compliance
• business development
• business intelligence and strategy

For more information on The Gazette Data Service, contact the team on 01603 985949, email data@thegazette.co.uk or click on the link below.

Enquire now

Next insolvency statistics release

Figures for January 2025 will be released on 18 February 2025.

You can see all personal insolvency notices in The Gazette.

See also

Company insolvency statistics – December 2024

Individual insolvency statistics - November 2024

Find out more

Individual Insolvency Statistics December 2024 (GOV.UK)

The Insolvency Service (GOV.UK)

Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB)

Images

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Publication date

23 January 2025