The number of Hawaii residents and businesses filing for bankruptcy fell in January to the lowest level in six years, according to a report issued today by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

The 122 cases filed in January represented a 23 percent decrease from the 159 cases filed the same month a year earlier. Bankruptcy filings have been on a downward trend since peaking in 2010 with an average of 330 cases a month.

Bankruptcies fell in all counties except Hawaii County. In Hono-lulu County the number of cases fell to 89 in January, an 11 percent drop from 100 the same month last year.

Filings dropped in Maui County to 13 cases from 30 cases, and in Kauai County to four cases from 13 cases. Filings in Hawaii County held steady at 16 cases.

The biggest drop by category was in Chapter 7 liquidation cases, which fell to 82 in January from 113 a year earlier, a drop of 27 percent.. The number of Chapter 13 cases, which allow debtors to keep their assets if they set up a plan to pay creditors over time, to 39 from 45, a drop of 13 percent.