According to Intrum’s European Consumer Payments Report, 3 out of 10 respondents have had to borrow money or have increased the limit on your credit card, at least once in the last few months. The forecast of expenses is essential in summer. For this, it is recommended to set a budget in which the economic amount that is going to be allocated to trips, hotels, leisure activities, restaurants or purchases is previously established.
The end of the restrictions, together with the sharp increase in inflation and the slowdown in the evolution of income, are causing household consumption to come closer to pre-pandemic levels and, for the first time in three years, the saving rate of Spaniards is negative. At a time like summer, when family spending is expected to in leisure and travel will increase considerablythese factors could be delaying the economic stabilization of those families that have not yet recovered from the impact of the health crisis, even reaching high levels of indebtedness.
According to the Intrum European Consumer Payments Report, either due to increased spending on consumer goods or price growth, 21% of Spaniards say they have more debt now than ever.
In fact, as this study shows, 28% of those surveyed have had to borrow money or have increased their credit card limit at least once in the last few months. A percentage that, compared to the other 23 European countries analyzed by the credit and asset management services firm, places Spain slightly above the European average (26%).
Specifically, the Spanish population would occupy the eighth position, above countries such as France and Germany, both with 27%. For their part, the Romanians (40%), the Greeks (36%) and the Irish (34%) lead the list of citizens with the most outstanding loans or who have exceeded their financial limits in recent months. At the other extreme would be Estonia (16%), the Netherlands (20%) and Latvia (20%), countries whose respondents have had less economic hardship in recent months.
consumption growth
These data would be in line with the latest official figures provided by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), which show that household consumption grew by 4.9% year-on-year in the first quarter, noting its largest increase since the second quarter of 2021. Similarly, according to this same institution, Spanish families placed their savings rate during the first months of the year at -0.8% of your disposable income, thus registering its first negative rate since the first quarter of 2019.
Both data reflect that a large part of the Spanish population could not finance the investment they made with their savings. A context that, in view of these summer months, could be aggravated by the increase in expenses that vacations and the extraordinary plans that characterize this time. Even more so if we take into account that, currently, according to the Intrum report, 53% of the Spanish population is dissatisfied with the amount of money they manage to save monthly.
