The American Bankruptcy Institute reported that total filings during the first six months of 2014 came in 12-percent below the figure registered at the halfway point of last year.

According to data provided by Epiq Systems, total bankruptcy filings nationwide completed between Jan. 1 and June 30 were 479,362, down from 544,561 total filings during the same period a year ago.

Officials tabulated that the 460,870 total noncommercial filings for the first half of 2014 represented a 12-percent drop from the noncommercial filing total of 520,992 for the first half of last year.

Total commercial filings during the first six months of the year were 18,492, representing a 22-percent decrease from the 23,569 filings during the same period in 2013.

Commercial Chapter 11 filings also fell during the first half of 2014 as the 3,009 filings represented a 13 percent decrease from the 3,454 commercial Chapter 11 filings during the first six months of 2013.

“The steady decline in bankruptcy filings reflects the continued deleveraging of consumers and businesses in a sustained low-interest- rate environment,” ABI executive director Samuel Gerdano said. “We expect the decline to continue through the end of 2014.”

ABI went on to mention the 73,816 total bankruptcy filings for the month of June represented a 12-percent decrease compared to the 83,646 filings in June of last year.

The 71,003 total noncommercial filings for June constituted an 11-percent drop from the June 2013 noncommercial filing total of 80,160.

Total commercial filings for June were 2,813, representing a 19-percent decrease from the 3,486 filings during the same period in 2013.

Commercial Chapter 11 filings registered a 3 percent drop as the 498 commercial chapter 11 filings in June of last year fell to 481 in June of this year.

The average nationwide per capita bankruptcy filing rate for the first six calendar months of this year decreased slightly to 3.09 (total filings per 1,000 per population) from the 3.13 rate for the first five months of the year, and the average total filings per day in June were 2,461, a 12 percent decrease from the 2,788 total daily filings in June 2013.

States with the highest per capita filing rate (total filings per 1,000 population) through the first six months of this year included:

1. Tennessee (6.25)

2. Alabama (5.23)

3. Georgia (5.23)

4. Utah (4.94)

5. Illinois (4.93)

ABI partnered with Epiq Systems — a provider of managed technology for the global legal profession — in order to provide the most current bankruptcy filing data for analysts, researchers and members of the news media.