by Calculated Risk on 8/01/2009 08:00:00 AM

The FDIC closed five more banks on Friday, and that brings the total FDIC bank failures to 69 in 2009. The following graph shows bank failures by week in 2009.

Click on graph for larger image in new window.

Note: Week 1 on graph ends Jan 9th.

The pace has really picked up recently, with the FDIC seizing almost 5 banks per week in July, and with 5 months to go, it seems 125 to 150 bank failures this year is likely.

The current pace suggests there will be more failures in 2009 than in the early years of the S&L crisis. From 1982 thorough 1984 there were about 100 failures per year, and then the number of failures really increased as the 2nd graph shows.

There were 28 weeks during the S&L crisis when regulators closed 10 or more banks, and the peak was April 20, 1989 with 60 bank closures (there were 7 separate weeks with more than 30 closures in the late '80s and early '90s).

The 2nd graph covers the entire FDIC period (annually since 1934).

For a graph that includes the 1920s and early '30s (before the FDIC was enacted) see the 3rd graph here.

Of course the number of banks isn't the only measure. Many banks today have more branches, and far more assets and deposits.

With Colonial (about $25.5 billion in assets), Guaranty (Texas, with close to $15.4 billion in assets) and Corus ($7.7 billion) all on the ropes, the dollars could really add up later this year. Corus and Guaranty will probably be seized in the next few weeks.

The FDIC era source data is here - including by assets (in most cases) - under Failures and Assistance Transactions

The pre-FDIC data is here.