“Debtors’ Atlas”: More adults are over-indebted – one in ten is affected

More people in Germany are over-indebted than a year ago. According to Creditreform, the number could continue to rise. More economic growth will not change that.

In particular, the sharp rise in living, energy and housing costs put a strain on expenses.

Berlin. The long economic downturn and high inflation are causing more and more people in Germany to find themselves in over-indebtedness. As of October 1st, 7.36 million adults had symptoms of over-indebtedness - 293,000 or 4.1 percent more than a year ago, according to the Debtor Atlas 2026 from the credit agency Creditreform on Thursday.

This means that 10.58 percent of adults are considered over-indebted. “The financial situation of private consumers has continued to deteriorate,” said Creditreform chief economist Patrik-Ludwig Hantzsch. “In particular, the sharp increase in living, energy and housing costs are putting a strain on the expenditure side.” At the same time, the job market is clouding over. “Well-paid jobs in the manufacturing sector in particular have been cut in large numbers in recent months.”

The current increase in cases of over-indebtedness is clearly crisis-driven, explained Hantzsch. The increasing financial stress is initially noticeable in so-called pre-trial measures.

“Consumers fall behind on paying their bills, dunning and debt collection procedures follow,” said the head of economic research at Creditreform. “This is often the start of private over-indebtedness.” If legal measures such as enforcement or attachment of debts are added, the over-indebtedness becomes more severe.

Despite economic growth, no improvement in sight

Despite improving economic forecasts, Creditreform does not expect a trend reversal for the time being. The situation is unlikely to improve sustainably in the short and medium term. Risks such as unemployment, rising costs of living and increasing credit financing of consumption are likely to continue to shape the development of over-indebtedness in the coming year.

“The number of over-indebted consumers will most likely continue to increase,” warned Hantzsch. “Consumers’ financial stress levels are currently high and go far beyond the group of consumers who are statistically considered to be over-indebted.”

HRI economic outlook

Finally economic growth – saving the budget?

Economists expect the German economy to grow by a good one percent this year, the fastest it has been since 2022. However, the economic recovery is not yet fully felt by many people.

This is how federal 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.

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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.

More: Direct aid or more growth? What can help over-indebted households now