Bankruptcy filings in Brazil declined 8.4% annually in the first five months of 2017, according to data from credit research firm Boa Vista SCPC.

For May alone, however, bankruptcy requests rose 14.5% year over year and spiked 76.8% from the previous month.

The credit research firm said applications for judicial recovery recorded a 21.7% drop in January through May.

For the 12-month aggregate period through May, bankruptcy filings and applications for judicial recovery dropped 0.8% and 0.3% respectively, Boa Vista said.

Judicial recoveries are part of Brazil's bankruptcy law where debtors must present creditors with a recovery plan to pay back debt.