The December 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 – 2025

In 2025, 126,240 individuals entered insolvency in England and Wales. This was 7% higher than in 2024 and the highest since 2010. The total amount of individual insolvencies consisted of:

• 71,841 individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs)
• 46,939 debt relief orders (DROs)
• 7,460 bankruptcies

In 2025, 57% of individual insolvencies were IVAs, 37% were DROs, and 6% were bankruptcies.

IVAs

In 2025 IVAs increased slightly on 2024 levels but remained below the record annual numbers seen between 2018 and 2022.

DROs

DROs in 2025 were slightly higher than 2024, making it the year with the highest volume of DROs since their introduction in 2009.

Bankruptcies

Bankruptcy numbers were slightly lower in 2025 than in 2024 and remained at less than half of pre-2020 levels, but were higher than the 40-year low seen in 2022.

Of the 7,460 bankruptcies in 2025, there were:

• 5,532 resulting from debtors’ applications, which was 4% lower than in 2024.
• 1,928 resulting from creditors’ petitions, which was 5% higher than in 2024.

Individual insolvency statistics for England and Wales – December 2025

In December 2025, 13,453 individuals entered insolvency in England and Wales. This was 42% higher than in November 2025 and 36% higher than in December 2024.

These increases were driven by a higher number of IVAs, as a temporary backlog of IVAs agreed in November 2025 was processed in December.

The total amount of individual insolvencies consisted of:

• 8,702 individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs)
• 4,150 debt relief orders (DROs)
• 601 bankruptcies

IVAs

The number of IVAs was 71% higher than in November 2025 and 47% higher than December 2024. Numbers of IVAs in November and December were affected by a temporary backlog, meaning that IVAs that would otherwise have been registered in November were instead registered in December.

DROs

The number of DROs in December 2025 was 8% higher than in November 2025 and 84% higher than the long-term (2015 to 2024) monthly average.

Bankruptcies

The number of bankruptcies in December 2025 was 15% higher than in November 2025 and 4% higher than in December 2024.

Bankruptcies in December 2025 consisted of:

• 467 resulting from debtors’ applications, which was 35% higher than in November 2025 and 9% higher than December 2024.
• 134 resulting from creditors’ petitions, which was 23% lower than in November 2025 and 10% lower than in December 2024.

Individual insolvency rate statistics for England and Wales – 2025

The individual liquidation rate in 2025 was 25.3 per 10,000 adults in England and Wales. This corresponds to 1 in 395 adults having entered an insolvency procedure in the past 12 months.

The rate in 2025 was higher than the rate in 2024. The increase was driven by higher rates of DROs and IVAs over the past year, while the bankruptcy rate decreased slightly.

Individual insolvency statistics for Scotland – Q3 2025

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 2025, there were 1,780 individual insolvencies in Scotland, which was 6% lower than in the same quarter of 2024. The individual insolvencies were comprised of:

• 1,056 protected trust deeds
• 724 sequestrations (of which 401 went into bankruptcy via the minimal asset process route)

Individual insolvency statistics for Northern Ireland – 2025

In Northern Ireland in 2025, there were 1,599 individual insolvencies, which was 4% higher than in December 2024.

Individual insolvency statistics for Northern Ireland – December 2025

In Northern Ireland in December 2025, there were 149 individual insolvencies, which was 48% higher than in December 2024. Of the total individual insolvencies, there were:

• 112 IVAs
• 16 bankruptcies
• 21 DROs

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 December 2025 will be released on 17 February 2026.

You can see all personal insolvency notices in The Gazette.

See also

Company insolvency statistics – December 2025

Individual insolvency statistics - November 2025

Find out more

Individual Insolvency Statistics December 2025 (GOV.UK)

The Insolvency Service (GOV.UK)

Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB)

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Publication date

20 January 2026