The number of Hawaii residents and businesses filing for bankruptcy during the first three months of 2013 was the lowest for any first quarter since 2008, according to a report Tuesday from U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

The quarter was capped by a 19 percent drop in bankruptcy filings in March to 163 cases from 200 cases the same month a year earlier. There were 424 bankruptcy filings for the January-through-March period, the fewest since 414 cases were filed in the first quarter of 2008.

Bankruptcy filings have been on a downward trend since topping out at an average of 330 cases a month in 2010.

Bankruptcies fell in all counties. In Hono­lulu County the number of cases fell to 106 in March, a 12 percent drop from 121 in the same month last year. In Hawaii County filings fell 25 percent to 21 cases, and in Maui County they fell 27 percent to 32 cases. Filings fell 50 percent in Kauai County to four cases.

By category the biggest drop was in Chapter 7 liquidation filings, which fell to 121 cases in March, a 19 percent decline from the same month a year earlier. Chapter 13 cases, which allow debtors to keep their assets if they set up a plan to pay creditors over time, fell by 11 percent to 41 cases in March.

There was one Chapter 11 petition for bankruptcy reorganization filed by the Voyager School Foundation, which supports the Voyager Public Charter School in Honolulu.

The school itself was not in bankruptcy and continues to operate, according to attorneys for the foundation.

The organization owes about $310,000 combined to its top 20 creditors, including $277,687 to Word of Life Christian Center on South Street.