During the year, Lithuanians borrowed another 57 million. EUR – the amount of debts exceeds 423 million. euros

Although the number of unique borrowers decreased from 155.1 thousand to 154.6 thousand, the average amount of debt per borrower increased by 11 percent. – from 1435 to 1596 EUR.

Also, the average number of debts per borrower increased from 1.64 to 1.71.

“Although the number of debtors has decreased slightly, the increase in the total amount of debt, the growing average amount of debt and the average number of debts per borrower are worrying. This shows that residents who do not fulfill their financial obligations on time are getting deeper and deeper into debt and it is becoming more and more difficult for them to repay their debts,” says Jekaterina Rojaka, head of business strategy and development at Creditinfo Lietuva.

A deeper analysis showed which obligations are more and more difficult for Lithuanians to fulfill. The most – 57 percent. – the indebtedness of the population to the providers of consumer loans increased: the total amount of debts in this sector increased by more than 5.2 million. Eur.

A quarter – 25 percent. – liabilities to debt collection companies and companies performing other activities increased: here the amount of arrears increased by more than 57.1 million. Eur.

The amount of debts of individuals to leasing companies increased by 10 percent. or 316.7 thousand Eur.

5 percent Indebtedness of residents to companies providing communal services increased: the amount of debts increased by more than 426.7 thousand per year. Eur.

The analysis of debts according to their nature showed that there are sectors in which Lithuanian debts decreased during the year. 1 percent – more than 122.3 thousand Eur – the amount of debts owed by the population to telecommunications companies decreased. 8 percent people’s debts to banks and credit unions decreased: the total amount of debts to these institutions fell by more than 8.2 million. Eur.

J. Rojaka points out that the decrease in debts to the financial sector does not necessarily indicate that the debts have been repaid – a significant number of financial institutions, managing risks, transfer bad loans to debt collection companies, whose managed debt portfolio has increased significantly.

“Increased interest rates slowed down the overall growth rate of the household loan portfolio. Over the past year, the growth of the housing loan portfolio slowed down to 6.1 percent. and amounted to 11.7 billion EUR, when the portfolio of consumer loans jumped as much as 41 percent. up to 2.1 billion Eur, – says J. Rojaka. “The latter are almost the riskiest type of loans, so it is not surprising that the share of non-performing loans in the loan portfolio is also growing.”

According to the data of the Bank of Lithuania, the share of non-performing loans in the entire loan portfolio increased to 1 percent, the volume of “bad” loans in the business loan portfolio increased by 1.85 percent. and reached 149 million EUR, and the volume of non-performing loans of residents in the portfolio jumped by 60.3 percent. up to 184 million Eur.

According to Creditinfo Lietuva, last year the share of overdue consumer loans amounted to 7.7 percent, while the rate of individual companies reached 20 percent. and more. As the demand for consumer loans grows, the risks inevitably increase.