Italy Credit Climate: Consumer Credit is Strongly Recovering in 2022

Consumer credit is strongly recovering in 2022: the demand for loans marks a +18.9%

The overall volumes of requests are higher than pre-pandemic volumes.
The average amount requested drops to 8,106 euros (-3.9% vs 2021).

The year just ended saw a double-digit recovery in consumer credit with an overall increase in applications of +18.9% compared to 2021 , thus recovering the climate of confidence after the pandemic shock of the last two years (source: EURISC, the Credit Information System managed by CRIF). Going into the details of the credit demand, in 2022 there was a growth of 22.9% for personal loan applications , and +16.7% for loans aimed at the purchase of goods and services .

“The scenario continues to be dominated by geopolitical tensions, by the increase in interest rates and by the prospect of a slowdown in economic growth, the repercussions of which will weigh on the financial conditions of households. Compared to the first half of 2022, the outlook for the economy and the credit market appear to be in trouble due to the effects of the tensions generated by the conflict in Ukraine and by inflation. In the light of this context, in the coming months, the demand for loans may suffer a decline due to the slowdown in consumption, especially on long-term loans” – comments Simone Capecchi , Executive Director of CRIF.

Trend of requests for new loans (personal + finalized):

Source: EURISC – The CRIF credit information system

The demand for consumer credit by Italians is prudent: small amounts spread over time

For the third consecutive year, the average amount of loans requested shows a decrease of 3.9% and a value of 8,106 euros (compared to 8,434 euros in 2021 and 8,895 euros in 2020). The dynamics of the reduced amount requested involves both personal loans with a value of 12,223 euros ( -1.4% compared to 2021) and final-purpose loans that stop at 5,717 euros ( -8.5% vs 2021) .

If we go into detail on the distribution of loans by amount range, the cumulative figure shows that more than one out of two Italians requests amounts of less than 5,000 euros (57.3% of the total) , followed by the brackets just higher: 10,000-20,000 euros (16 .4%) and 5,000-10,000 euros (15.1%). The demand, although thus divided into small amounts, is in any case deferred over a period of more than 5 years for 22.7% of Italians , in order to weigh as little as possible on the family budget.

The prudent dynamics of Italian households is also reflected in the cross-section of the two technical forms examined: 75.1% of requests for targeted loans have a debt repayment of no more than 3 years ; while personal loans , which often represent a particularly onerous commitment for households, tend to be concentrated in the period exceeding five years , 43% of the total .

Finally, observing the distribution of loan applications (personal and finalized aggregate) in relation to the age of the applicant, the CRIF Barometer shows that in 2022 the group between 35 and 54 was the majority, with a share equal to 45.2% of the total.