One in eight Swiss households in payment arrears

Every eighth person lives in a household with payment arrears Keystone-SDA

More than one in eight people, or 12.1% of the population, lived in a household with at least one payment in arrears in 2022. Overall, 40.9% of the population had at least one form of debt in that year.

This is according to data published on Tuesday by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). The most common arrears were tax bills and health insurance premiums.

The FSO also analysed mortgages (not main residence), vehicle leases, small or consumer loans, instalment payments, maintenance payments, debts to family or friends as well as overdrafts or unpaid credit card bills. Overall, 40.9% of the population had at least one debt.

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Accordingly, 5.5% of the population lived in households with arrears to the tax office. A further 4.4% were in arrears with health insurance companies. The number of people struggling with at least one type of arrears in the reporting year fell with increasing age, level of education and income.

The family situation also mattered: 14.2% of people in households with children were in arrears, compared to 7.7% without children. Almost a fifth of people in a single-parent household had at least one payment in arrears in 2022.

The most common type of debt in 2022 was vehicle leasing: 14.5% of the population lived in a household with this type of debt. Mortgages on a second home accounted for 12.6%, while 37.6% had at least one type of loan, an overdraft or unpaid credit card bills.

The reasons for borrowing differed according to income. The top 20% earners were more likely to use a loan to finance a mortgage on a second home or home furnishings (26.8%) than the lowest-20% of earners (7.5%).

In the poorest fifth of the population, loans were more often used for everyday expenses, personal items or to pay off other debts.

Adapted from German by DeepL/ac

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