Individual insolvency statistics - January 2025

The January 2025 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 – January 2025

In January 2025, 9,706 individuals entered insolvency in England & Wales. This was 3% lower than in December 2024 and 12% higher than in January 2024. The total amount of individual insolvencies consisted of:

5,267 individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs)
3,847 debt relief orders (DROs)
592 bankruptcies

IVAs

The number of IVAs was 12% lower than December 2024 and 5% higher than January 2024 after seasonal adjustment.

DROs

The number of DROs in January 2025 were higher than the numbers seen in December 2024, but lower than the record high seen in June 2024.

Bankruptcies

The number of bankruptcies in January 2025 was lower than the 2024 monthly average. Bankruptcy numbers have declined since 2009 and fell further during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bankruptcies in January 2025 consisted of:

423 resulting from debtors’ applications, which was 1% lower than in December 2024 and 22% lower than in January 2024.
169 resulting from creditors’ petitions, which was 22% higher than in December 2024 and 13% higher than in January 2024.

Individual insolvency statistics for Scotland – Q4 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 Q4 2024, there were 1,784 individual insolvencies in Scotland, which was lower than in the same quarter of 2023. The individual insolvencies were comprised of:

1,167 protected trust deeds
617 sequestrations (of which 342 went into bankruptcy via the minimal asset process route)

Individual insolvency statistics for Northern Ireland – January 2025

In Northern Ireland in January 2025, there were 141 individual insolvencies, which was 26% higher than in January 2024. Of the total individual insolvencies, there were:

97 IVAs
24 DROs
20 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 February 2025 will be released on 18 March 2025.

You can see all personal insolvency notices in The Gazette.

Find out more

Individual Insolvency Statistics January 2025 (GOV.UK)

The Insolvency Service (GOV.UK)

Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB)

Images

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Publication date

18 February 2025