Debts rise to 43% of defaulters in the 2nd half of 2022, says research

Debts rose to 43% of defaulting consumers in the second half of 2022, according to the Boa Vista Consumer Profile Survey. In the same period of 2021, the increase had been 33% and, in the first half of last year, 40%.

Those who consider themselves heavily indebted reached 42%, compared to 32% in the same period of 2021 and 37% in the immediately previous semester.

About 7 out of 10 have more than three overdue accounts, against 63% in the previous semester and 62% in the same semester of 2021. That’s 87% with the name negative for more than 90 days.

Among defaulters, 68% belong to classes D and E, while 85% are economically active and 35% are between 18 and 30 years old. Women are the majority (56%).

Unemployment is the main reason for consumers to default on payments – the justification was used by 30% of respondents. Decreased income is cited as a reason for default for 26%.

“Although unemployment was cited as the main cause of default, in general, the job market improved little by little in the 2nd half of 2022”, explains in a note Flavio Calife, economist from Boa Vista.

“According to the latest data released by the IBGE, in November 2022 the unemployment rate was at the mark of 8.1%. A year earlier, in November 2021, the rate was 11.6%. In that 12-month period, according to the agency, just over 4.8 million jobs were created,” he adds.

The survey also shows that 27% of consumers are in default due to non-payment of the credit card, followed by the store card, with 12% Another 29% had their names denied due to non-payment of bank slips.

“This worsening in the financial situation of the consumer was already expected. Since the beginning of the year, we saw that some much more expensive lines of credit were growing significantly, such as the installment credit card and the revolving credit card, so it is not surprising that the credit card was pointed out by many consumers”, he comments. calife.

The research was carried out through more than 1,500 online interviews with consumers from all over Brazil. The margin of error is plus or minus three percentage points, and the confidence level is 95%.