Salaries at a standstill, inflation… why are the number of over-indebtedness cases exploding in France?

Over-indebtedness affects more and more people: the Banque de France received last year 134 803 dossierseither 10.8% more than in 2023, a consequence of purchasing power increasingly under pressure.

“The increase in the number of over-indebtedness files follows the inflationary surge that we have been experiencing since 2022,” analyzes the spokesperson for the CGT Indecosa consumers and tenants association, Loïc Daguzan.

For what ?

The number of filings for overindebtedness had already increased in 2023 compared to 2022, by 8%, but however remains lower than that of 2019considered the reference year before disruptions due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Among the causes, “the remains of inflation, especially food inflation”agrees Pauline Dujardin, general delegate of the Crésus federation, which brings together associations fighting against over-indebtedness.

If the rise in prices slowed down last year, “the wages have not increased in the same proportions,” she emphasizes.

Over-indebtedness files without credit to repay

“More and more people are filing cases of over-indebtedness without creditfor their constrained expenses”, she continues, symbol “of a rather deteriorated social situation”.

New registrations in the FICP (national file of individual loan repayment incidents), which lists in particular people who have encountered difficulties in repaying a loan taken out on a personal basis, have increased by 3.1% in 2024 compared to 2023to 908,636, according to the Banque de France.

Registrations in this file do not necessarily result in the submission of an over-indebtedness file, which is a voluntary action on the part of the person concerned.

And in the future?

“Unfortunately, this is only the beginning,” warns Jean-Louis Kiehl, president of the Crésus federation. THE single womensometimes with children, are over-represented among people in a situation of over-indebtedness.

But “an accident in life can affect everyone,” warns Ms. Dujardin, worried about future “massive layoff plans” triggered by a gloomy economic climate.
People in situations of financial fragility, estimated at 4.3 million by the Bank from France, often don’t know where to turn.

Barely a quarter of eligible people subscribes, for example, to the specific offer aimed at populations in situations of financial fragility (OCF), according to the same source.

Almost two millions of individuals made last year “a request for information or support” from the Banque de France on financial inclusion themes, she specifies, at the counter, by telephone, by mail or via its website.

With AFP.

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