Creditreform “Debtor Atlas”: Over-indebtedness is increasing – more than 7.3 million people affected

More than one in ten adults in Germany is over-indebted. Experts fear that the situation could get even worse next year.

More and more people in Germany are over-indebted. (Symbolic image) Photo: Hannes P Albert/dpa

Dusseldorf. The number of over-indebted people in Germany has increased. 7.36 million people aged 18 and over are affected, according to the new “Debtor Atlas” from the credit agency Creditreform. That's a good four percent or 293,000 cases more than in the previous year. The deadline was October 1st.

“The financial situation of private consumers has continued to deteriorate,” said the head of Creditreform economic research, Patrik-Ludwig Hantzsch. In particular, the sharp rise in living, energy and housing costs put a strain on expenses. At the same time, the labor market situation continues to deteriorate. Anyone who is permanently unable to meet their financial obligations is considered over-indebted.

According to Creditreform, the current number of cases is not directly comparable with previous data due to a new calculation method. The values ​​for 2025 were recalculated retroactively using a mathematical-statistical procedure. This makes a comparison possible.

Strong increase among younger people

According to the study, the most common reasons for over-indebtedness are illness, addiction or accidents as well as unemployment. The number of over-indebted young adults under the age of 30 has risen above average. It increased by 5.8 percent to 1.17 million.

Overall, people between the ages of 30 and 49 are most affected. “Especially the top performers in society, who are in the middle of their working lives and have to shoulder financial burdens, are feeling the consequences of the crises,” says Hantzsch. The expert does not expect any relaxation in the coming year. “The number of over-indebted consumers will most likely continue to increase.”

How states and cities perform

Bremen has the highest over-indebtedness rate, i.e. the proportion of over-indebted people in relation to all adults (15.89 percent). This is followed by North Rhine-Westphalia (13.19 percent) and Saxony-Anhalt (13.08 percent). The lowest values ​​are achieved in Bavaria (7.58 percent), Baden-Württemberg (8.73 percent) and Brandenburg (9.15 percent). The rates increased in all federal states.

There are big regional differences. Over-indebtedness is lowest in the Bavarian districts of Eichstätt (4.75 percent) and Erlangen-Höchstadt (4.99 percent). At the bottom of the ranking are the cities of Gelsenkirchen (25.43 percent) and Bremerhaven (23.67 percent). The nationwide rate increased by 0.42 points to 10.58 percent.

For its “Debtor Atlas,” Creditreform evaluates anonymized data using official registers from online retailers and other sources. A distinction is made between “soft” pre-judicial over-indebtedness features such as dunning and debt collection procedures, “medium” ones such as seizures or enforcement, and “hard” such as personal insolvencies. A single reminder does not automatically result in a consumer being classified as over-indebted.