In Europe we have been going through a major financial crisis since 2008: in fact, the unemployment rate has never been so high, it has reached a record figure of 12% of the total population of Europe and the number of bankruptcies is also breaking records. records every year.
The governments of the European Economic Area are trying to revive growth after several quarters of recession; growth is reappearing but very weakly. This gloomy economic environment is obviously felt in the world of credit. Update on this hot topic.
Belgians are always borrowing more with credit in Belgium
Belgians are borrowing more and more for secondary purposes
Ten or 20 years ago, Belgians borrowed mainly to buy a house, to build or renovate their house or to take out car financing. Currently, it has become quite common to take out a loan to go on a trip, buy school books or finance cosmetic surgery. In 2010, barely 6% of installment loans were used for such personal projects compared to almost 15% now, a dizzying increase of 9% in just 3 years. .
Belgians borrow larger amounts
At the end of June 2012, Belgians still accumulated around 2 million installment loans, i.e. 12% more than 10 years ago according to figures from the Professional Credit Union (PCU). The cumulative amount of all these loans was equivalent to a total of 16.63 billion euros, an increase of almost 57% over a period of 10 years…
The amounts borrowed are also much greater. a survey carried out on 1,200 people representing a significant panel showed that 46% were repaying a loan at the time of the survey compared to 38% three years earlier.
The amount of defaults has never been higher
As a corollary to the explosion in the number of loans, the amount of Belgian defaults reached 2.888 billion euros in August 2013 and has never been so high in Belgium according to the latest figures from the Personal credit center.
Mortgage credit in slow motion
Although consumer confidence is on the rise, the economic situation remains difficult. Thus, requests for mortgage credit declined in August. According to figures for the month of August from the UPC mortgage credit barometer, the number of mortgage credit applications decreased by 6.8% on an annual basis, while the amount of applications fell by 6.4%.
The credits granted have also declined in terms of demand (-13%) and amount (-10%).
We therefore see an evolution in the opposite direction of mortgage credit compared to the installment loan.
