the (surprising) sketch of the people affected

Over-indebtedness, defined as the manifest impossibility of meeting all of its non-professional debts due and falling dueis a scourge that affects thousands of individuals each year. Beyond preconceived ideas, statistics from the Banque de France allow us to know more about the profiles actually concerned.

A fragile population

An over-indebted household is one that is no longer able to meet its current financial expenses. The first instinct is therefore to imagine that it is primarily a question of “poor” households: this is partially true, but far from being systematic. In 2023, of all over-indebted households, 58% were below the poverty line. So this is indeed a factor, but in reality it means that more than one in four over-indebted households is not considered poor.

At the level of people now, the figures over the same period tell us that 56% of them are separated, single or widowed (i.e. 15 points more than in the general population). At the same time, 35% are employed and 25% are looking for work.

Then, still on the basis of the latest statistics available from the Banque de France on the subject (published in 2024 after study of the year 2023), we can end with a table showing the main differences observed between all over-indebted people and the rest of the population:

Source: typological survey on household over-indebtedness in 2023 (Banque de France).

Three situations lead to over-indebtedness

The Banque de France specifies in the investigation that over-indebtedness can be explained by three types of situations :

• so-called “structural fragility” situations, for example family situations. This is an element highlighted in particular by the significant proportion of single-parent families affected, as we saw above;
• the lack of resources among certain households. Even if not everyone can be considered “poor”, the balance of their budget is sometimes suddenly threatened by an accident in life (loss of a loved one, dismissal, illness, etc.). Note that the repurchase of credits is often a relevant option in this configuration to reorganize your expenses;
• “reckless” budgetary behavior. The institution highlights here the fact that these are nevertheless minority cases.