Insolvency Service releases insolvency statistics - January to March 2014
The latest official quarterly personal and corporate statistics are released – covering January to March 2014
Statistics for January to March 2014 show that the number of company liquidations increased by 4.8% compared with October to December 2013, and by 4.9% compared with January to March 2013.
Within this, the number of compulsory liquidations increased by 53.1% in January to March 2014 compared with the previous quarter. This large increase appears to be because of an unusually low number of compulsory liquidations in October to December 2013 - the data for January to March 2014 is in line with otherwise fairly stable figures seen since 2012.
Total individual insolvencies decreased by 0.3% in January to March 2014 compared to the same period in 2013. Bankruptcies decreased by 15% over this period, and debt relief orders decreased by 9.3%. The number of individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs) increased by 14.3%, with IVAs now making up over half of all individual insolvencies.
Other statistics on insolvencies in England and Wales show that:
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in January to March 2014, the number of company receiverships decreased compared with the same period in 2013, but the number of administrations increased and company voluntary arrangements remained level
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in the 12 months ending March 2014, one in 167 active companies (or 0.6% of all active registered companies) went into liquidation, compared with one in 153 in the 12 months ending March 2013
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in the 12 months ending March 2014, one in 444 adults (or less than 0.25% of the adult population) became insolvent, compared with one in 421 in the 12 months ending March 2013
Related statistics for Scotland and Northern Ireland show that:
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company liquidations in Scotland in January to March 2014 increased by 109.7%, compared with the same period in 2013. The number of individual insolvencies decreased by 14%
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company liquidations in Northern Ireland in January to March 2014 increased by 32.7%, compared with the same period in 2013. The number of individual insolvencies increased by 0.5%