In April of this year, the proportion of indebted Brazilian families (in arrears or not) was 78.3%. Although unchanged from the previous month, the number is higher than that recorded in April 2022, which was 77.7%. These data are the result of the Consumer Indebtedness and Default Survey (Peic), released this Thursday (4th) by the National Confederation of Trade in Goods, Services and Tourism (CNC).
The expectation is that the percentage of indebtedness will remain in the next two months and increase to 78.4% in July, according to the CNC. According to the survey, the proportion of defaulters, who are those who have bills or debts in arrears, reached 29.1% of the country’s families, below the 29.4% of March, but above the 28.6% of April 2022, with the increase occurring mainly in the middle class.
The percentage of those who will not be able to pay their debts reached 11.6%, a number higher than the 11.5% of March and the 10.9% of April of last year. “Those who have debts overdue for a longer period continue to face difficulties in getting out of default due to high interest rates, which increase financial expenses”, highlights CNC economist Izis Ferreira.
Of every 100 defaulting consumers in April, 45 were overdue for more than three months. According to Peic, many consumers have sought personal credit, which had the lowest rate of interest growth (average of 42% per year), to settle more expensive debts, such as revolving card, for example.
Of the total number of indebted consumers, 86.8% have credit card debt and 9% have personal credit. The use of this type of credit is the highest recorded in a year, while that of personal credit exceeds the last six months, according to the CNC.
