Research shows that 78.5% of Brazilian families are indebted

The percentage of families who reported having debts falling due increased by 0.2 percentage points (pp) in June, reaching 78.5% of families in the country. Those who consider themselves highly indebted account for 18.5% of this total. According to the National Confederation of Trade in Goods, Services and Tourism (CNC), which released the figures this Tuesday (11), this is the highest volume in the historical series, which began in January 2010. The data are part of the Survey of Consumer Indebtedness and Default (Peic), calculated monthly by CNC.

According to the CNC, the increase in the number of debtors interrupted a sequence of four months of stability in the indicator.

For the president of the CNC, José Roberto Tadros, the Brazilian economy is going through a scenario of increasing indebtedness and default, and this affects the consumption capacity of families. “The balance between the objectives of price stability and economic growth is a challenge to be pursued and which will be decisive for the resumption of the country’s development”, points out the text released by the CNC on the result of June.

Income

The survey showed that, even with the increase in debt in June, a month earlier than the CNC estimated, the average share of income committed to debt recorded the lowest percentage since September 2020, reaching 29.6%.

According to economist Izis Ferreira, responsible for the survey, this can be explained by the income behavior of consumers. “This is a result of the improvement in the income of consumers who earn up to 10 minimum wages, which is due to the favorable dynamics of decelerating inflation since the end of last year”, she observed.

default

The volume of defaults followed the debt advance movement in June. The total number of families with overdue debts reached 29.2%, which means an increase of 0.1 pp. Of the total number of consumers with overdue debts, 4 out of 10 entered June unable to pay commitments from previous months, the highest proportion since August 2021.

Izis Ferreira said, however, that the positive evolution of the labor market and the easing of inflation, which resulted in an improvement in disposable income, were not enough to remove consumers with debts that were overdue for a longer period of time.

“The proportion of consumers with overdue debts has grown again after six months of decline, as well as the contingent of those who claim they will not be able to settle overdue debts from previous months”, said the economist. For her, high interest rates continue to make it difficult to improve this situation.

The number of consumers with arrears for more than 90 days also grew, which, in June, reached 46% of the total number of defaulters. According to Izis, this means that for every 100 consumers with overdue debts, 46 are overdue for more than three months. “And the proportion has been growing.”

Regions

The South and Southeast regions had the highest number of indebted families. The population of Minas Gerais is the most indebted among the states. They are 94.9% of the total. Following, were Paraná, with 94.7%; and Rio Grande do Sul, with 93.9%. Mato Grosso do Sul had the lowest debt ratio in the country (59.1%), followed by Pará (62%) and Piauí (65%).

lace bands

In all income brackets surveyed, the volume of indebtedness increased in the semester, which indicates an “upward trend in the second half of the year”. In comparison with the same period of last year, the biggest increase in the proportion of indebtedness was with consumers with monthly income of 5 to 10 minimum wages (2.1 percentage points).

“With the absorption of people with a lower level of education into the labor market and more robust income transfer programs, a more expressive advance among low-income families has been contained”, completed the economist in the CNC text.