The Thuringian people don't like getting into debt - at least that's what data from the credit agency Creditreform shows. The proportion of over-indebted people is only lower in the economically strong states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg.
Erfurt/Neuss (dpa/th) - The number of over-indebted private individuals in Thuringia has fallen during the corona pandemic, according to the "Debtor Atlas 2022" by the credit agency Creditreform. According to data released on Tuesday, the percentage of over-indebted consumers in Bavaria's population fell from 9.14 percent in 2020 to 8.08 percent this year.
According to this, the proportion of over-indebted consumers is only lower in the economically strong states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg than in Thuringia, which currently has values of 6.05 and 6.95 percent respectively. The German average for the so-called debtor rate was given by Creditreform at 8.48 percent.
However, according to the financial experts, many consumers are threatened with a "post-payment shock" for energy and heating costs by 2023 at the latest. The result is likely to be an increase in defaults, some of which lead directly to over-indebtedness, said a spokesman for Creditreform.
According to the "Debtor Atlas 2022", around 150,000 people in Thuringia are currently over-indebted. Two years ago it was 170,000. Financial experts point out that consumers made fewer payment obligations during the Corona crisis - that will still have an effect this year.
Consumers are considered to be over-indebted if their current income is not sufficient to enable them to meet their financial obligations in the long term.
According to Creditreform, the number of over-indebted people in Germany fell to a record low this year. However, given the current skyrocketing energy and food prices, the credit agency expects the situation to deteriorate noticeably in the near future. It is currently questionable whether the state aid and support programs will be sufficient to limit the negative effects of the energy price-related loss of income.
