The Germans and especially the younger generation finance purchases or vacation trips more often than before with an installment loan. Almost a third of Germans (32.7 percent) have taken out such a loan in the past five years.
This is the result of a representative survey by Postbank, which is available to WELT AM SONNTAG. In a similar survey in 2014, this applied to only one in five (20.7 percent). At that time, 43.4 percent also rejected taking out an installment loan in principle, meanwhile the figure is only 31.3 percent.
"After two years of the corona pandemic with its restrictions in many areas of life, the consumer mood has increased significantly and is more often financed with an installment loan," says Jan Wiedei, head of daily banking at Postbank. According to the survey, borrowers traditionally use the money to finance a car, renovations or home furnishings.
These purposes are still dominant. In the meantime, however, almost five percent of those surveyed would take out a loan to pay for a trip – eight times more than eight years ago (0.6 percent). Fewer and fewer would hesitate to buy clothes (370 percent), a mobile phone (167 percent) or even Christmas presents (240 percent) on credit.
The trend towards financing short-term wishes with a loan can be observed above all among younger people. Among respondents aged 18 to 24, one in four (25.3 percent) now buys clothes on credit, and one in eight (12.7 percent) finances such a trip. More than one in six (17.4 percent) in this age group also takes out an installment loan to finance their hobby.
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