April 24, 2003

 

North Dakota Sees Surge in Bankruptcies

The number of bankruptcy cases in North Dakota grew 100 percent between 1981 and 1991. Cases rose another 75 percent between 1991 and 2001, according to a recent Economic Brief released from the North Dakota State Data Center at North Dakota State University. In 2001, approximately 2,100 bankruptcy petitions were filed in North Dakota.

In the absence of statewide data, some explanation of the steep rise in bankruptcy cases can be found from national trends which show that credit card spending increased 214 percent between 1990 and 2000 reaching $1.46 trillion while credit card debt has risen 181 percent reaching $683 billion. This is at a time when personal savings in the United States dropped from $334 billion in 1990 to $118 billion in 2001.

"The difficult economic times, both statewide and nationally, have placed great strain on many North Dakotans. Unfortunately, this has led a growing number to overstretch their resources and results in bankruptcy. The pace at which this is occurring in North Dakota is alarming and needs to be addressed," said Richard Rathge, Director of the State Data Center.

On average, bankruptcy cases in North Dakota rose 6.4 percent per year between 1991 and 2001. The nation as a whole averaged 5.3 percent per year during the same time. Hawaii had the highest increase of 18.8 percent per year on average since 1991, followed by Delaware at 13.7 percent. Colorado and Minnesota showed the lowest annual average change, less than 1 percent each since 1991.

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Sources: Richard Rathge, (701) 231-8621, richard.rathge@ndsu.nodak.edu
Editor: Tom Jirik, (701) 231-9629, tjirik@ndsuext.nodak.edu

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