Bankruptcy filings increased by more than 25 per cent in 2009, official data revealed Wednesday.

Bankruptcy filings increased by more than 25 per cent in 2009, official data revealed Wednesday. (Canadian Press)

In the 12-month period up to Dec. 31, 2009, there were 121,801 bankruptcies across the country, well above the 96,774 filed during the same period last year, the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada said.

On top of the bankruptcy filings, there were also 36,640 proposals to creditors, a 38.5 per cent increase over last year. A proposal to creditors is an official plan to repay a debt on less onerous terms than the original loan, but an alternative to a formal bankruptcy filing.

There were far more consumer bankruptcies than business filings in 2009, the agency said. There were 116,381 consumer filings, up 28.4 per cent on the year, compared with only 5,420 business filings, which decreased by 12.1 per cent.

In the month of December alone, the total number of insolvencies (bankruptcies and proposals) decreased by 11.1 per cent compared with November 2009.

Over the last 20 years, monthly variations between the months of November and December have typically been negative, the agency says.