Accredited official statistics
Individual Insolvency Statistics: October to December 2021
Statistics on new individual insolvencies in England and Wales, and related statistics for Scotland and Northern Ireland
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Annual 2021
- One in 429 adults (at a rate of 23.3 per 10,000 adults) entered insolvency in 2021. This is broadly similar to the rate in 2020 but a decrease from the 26.1 per 10,000 adults who entered insolvency in 2019 (pre-pandemic).
- The total number of individual insolvencies registered in 2021 was similar to the number registered in 2020 but 10% lower than 2019.
- IVAs reached a record high in 2021 and accounted for 74% of all individual insolvencies. 2021 saw the lowest annual number of bankruptcies since 1989, while numbers of DROs were similar to 2020 but remained below pre-pandemic levels.
- Between the launch of the Breathing Space scheme on 4 May 2021, and 31 December 2021, there were 41,127 registrations, comprised of 40,503 Standard breathing space registrations and 624 Mental Health breathing space registrations.
Quarterly Q4 2021
- After seasonal adjustment, the number of individual insolvencies in Q4 2021 was similar to Q3 2021, but 12% lower than in Q4 2020.
- During Q4 2021, there were 27,349 (seasonally adjusted) individual insolvencies, as shown in Figure 1, comprised of 19,662 Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs), 5,863 Debt Relief Orders (DROs) and 1,824 bankruptcies.