Individual insolvency statistics - February 2026

The February 2026 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 – February 2026

In February 2026, 11,609 individuals entered insolvency in England & Wales. This was 6% higher than in January 2026 and 18% higher than in February 2025.

The total amount of individual insolvencies consisted of:

6,631 individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs)
4,210 debt relief orders (DROs)
768 bankruptcies

IVAs

The number of IVAs was 6% higher than in January 2026 and 20% higher than February 2025 after seasonal adjustment.

DROs

The number of DROs in February 2026 was 9% higher than in January 2026.

Monthly numbers over the past two years have been higher than at any other point since their introduction, following the removal of a fee for entering a DRO in April 2024.

Bankruptcies

The number of bankruptcies in February 2026 was 5% lower than in January 2026 but 25% higher than in February 2025.

Bankruptcy numbers in February 2026 were affected by the clearing of a backlog following the Insolvency Service’s transition to a new case management system. This resulted in some debtor bankruptcy orders being made in January and February that would otherwise have been made in the previous month.

Bankruptcies in February 2026 consisted of:

658 resulting from debtors’ applications, which was 2% higher than in January 2026 and 50% higher than February 2025.
110 resulting from creditors’ petitions, which was 30% lower than in January 2026 and 37% lower than in February 2025.

Individual insolvency statistics for Scotland – Q4 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 Q4 2025, there were 1,896 individual insolvencies in Scotland, which was 6% higher than in the same quarter of 2025. The individual insolvencies were comprised of:

1,122 protected trust deeds
774 sequestrations (of which 431 went into bankruptcy via the minimal asset process route)

Individual insolvency statistics for Northern Ireland – February 2026

In Northern Ireland in February 2026, there were 138 individual insolvencies, which was 10% higher than in February 2025. Of the total individual insolvencies, there were:

109 IVAs
9 bankruptcies
20 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 March 2025 will be released on 17 April 2026.

You can see all personal insolvency notices in The Gazette.

Find out more

Individual Insolvency Statistics February 2026 (GOV.UK)

The Insolvency Service (GOV.UK)

Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB)

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Publication date

17 March 2026