Consumer borrowing more than 1 billion down

• Credit granting below level of previous decade
• Less paid off in consumer credit accounts

Dutch households took out nearly 9.7 billion euro in consumer credit in 2009, i.e. 1.2 billion down on 2008 and the lowest level of the past decade. The total amount paid off by consumers was more than 700 million euro down on 2008, according to Statistics Netherlands.

Consumers were cautious last year to borrow money for buying expensive consumer articles like cars, furniture and electronic equipment. Fixed-amount loans dropped by 28.6 percnt, revolving credit loans by 13.3 percent. Mail-order firms faced the most dramatic downturn (30.3 percent). Finance companies – especially those affiliated to particular car brands – also faced a difficult period.

Last year, repayments in consumer credit loans dropped by nearly 6 percent relative to the previous year. Repayments reached the lowest level of the past decade in relation to the average outstanding consumer debt.

At the end of 2009, the total outstanding consumer debt was 17.9 billion euro, a decrease by 0.6 percent relative to the previous year. The total amount in overdrafts on current accounts (9.3 billion euro) remained the same as at the end of 2008. The outstanding consumer debt totalled over 27 billion euro at the end of 2009, approximately the same as twelve months previously.