The percentage of families with outstanding debt grew 0.7 percentage point in July, reaching a record 78% of Brazilian households. The increase from July 2021 was 6.6 percentage points. The data are from the Consumer Debt and Default Survey (Peic), released today (8) by the National Confederation of Trade in Goods, Services and Tourism (CNC).
The total number of families with overdue debts or bills stood at 29% in July, compared to 28.5% in June this year and 25.6% in July 2021. Of these, 10.7% said they were unable to pay their commitments , proportion 0.1 percentage point higher than in the previous month and 0.2 percentage point lower than in the same period of the previous year.
The increase in indebtedness was 0.5 percentage point among women and 1 percentage point among men, reaching 80.6% and 77.5% respectively. Among women, the survey points to a slowdown in indebtedness in recent months, but the increase in the annual comparison was 8.3 percentage points, while among men it rose 6.3 percentage points.
By income range, Peic points out that families in the range above ten monthly minimum wages contracted another 0.8 percentage point of debt in July, reaching 75% with debts. In the range with income below ten times the minimum wage, indebtedness increased by 0.6 percentage point, reaching 78.8%. In both tracks, the rate is record.
Indebtedness modalities
By type of indebtedness, Peic shows a drop of 1.2 percentage points in the number of families that owe credit cards, the third consecutive drop. Among those in debt, 85.4% have credit card debt. In April, the proportion had reached 88.8%.
In CNC’s assessment, the decline in credit cards was due to the search for cheaper interest rate options.
“This downward movement in the proportion of indebted credit cards shows that families have been looking for cheaper credit alternatives in the context of high interest rates. With that, store books and personal credit were the modalities that advanced in indebtedness, at the beginning of the semester, representing 18.8% and 9.2% of the total of families with debts, respectively”, says the note from the confederation.
default
The number of households with overdue bills or debt rose 0.5 percentage point in July to 29%. The proportion is 3.4 percentage points higher than that calculated in July 2021. The proportion of those who will not be able to pay off their debts was 10.7%, a percentage that remained practically stable in the last year.
“The rise in default indicators, after moderating and falling between April, May and June, indicates that extraordinary income support measures, such as extra FGTS withdrawals and the anticipation of the 13th salary to INSS beneficiaries, apparently had a limited effect. to the second quarter in the payment of bills and/or debts that are already overdue”, evaluates CNC.
According to the confederation, the labor market is absorbing workers with lower levels of education and informally, which increases uncertainty in the management of personal finances. In addition, according to the CNC, high inflation flattens incomes and makes it difficult to organize the family budget.
Peic’s data is collected in all capitals and the Federal District, with around 18,000 consumers. The main types of debt raised are credit card, overdraft, post-dated check, consigned credit, personal credit, booklets, car financing and home financing.
