The American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) reported, citing data from Epiq Systems, total commercial filings during calendar year 2016 were 37,771, a 26% increase from the 29,920 filings for 2015.

The ABI said there were 5,438 commercial Chapter 11 filings during calendar year 2016, a 2% increase over the 5,313 commercial Chapter 11 filings the previous year. Total bankruptcy filings decreased slightly to 771,894 nationwide for calendar year 2016, 6% less than the 819,431 total filings during 2015. The 733,897 total noncommercial filings during calendar year 2016 also represented a 7% drop from the noncommercial filing total of 789,332 during calendar year 2015.

“While commercial filings increased last year, total filings fell for a seventh consecutive year and bankruptcies decreased to their lowest number recorded since 2006,” said ABI Executive Director Samuel J. Gerdano. “As the Fed raises rates in 2017 and the cost of borrowing increases, more debt-burdened consumers and businesses may seek the financial shelter of bankruptcy.”

The 56,394 total bankruptcy filings for the month of December represented a 5% increase compared to the 53,844 filings in December 2015. The 53,483 total noncommercial filings for December also represented a 5% increase from the December 2015 noncommercial filing total of 51,170. The 2,911 total commercial filings represented a 9% increase from the 2,674 total commercial filings during the same period in 2015. Conversely, the 333 commercial Chapter 11 filings in December 2016 were 17% lower than the 399 filings in December 2015. Average total filings per day in December 2016 were 2,685, a 10% increase from the 2,447 total daily filings in December 2015.

The average nationwide per capita bankruptcy filing rate for calendar year 2016 decreased to 2.48 (total filings per 1,000 per population) from the 2.63 rate during calendar year 2015.