Due to high interest rates and weak consumer demand, the number of U.S. companies filing for bankruptcy protection in 2024 reached a 14-year high.
The report cited data released by S&P Global Market Intelligence, saying that from January 1 to December 23, 2024, at least 686 companies with assets and liabilities of a certain scale that the company tracked and observed declared bankruptcy, an increase of 8% year-on-year. The previous year with a higher number of bankruptcies of such companies was 2010 after the international financial crisis.
The data also showed that at least 30 U.S. companies had debts of up to $1 billion when they declared bankruptcy in 2024.
Statistics from Fitch Ratings show that the number of U.S. companies taking out-of-court measures to avoid filing for bankruptcy protection in 2024 also increased, about twice the number of companies filing for bankruptcy.
Data released by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court system showed that in the 12 months ending September 30, 2024, 504,100 companies in the United States filed for bankruptcy protection, an increase of 16.2% over the previous 12 months.