No. 134 - Italian household debt after the 2008 crisis

After the crisis, from 2008 to 2010 the share of indebted households decreased both owing to a reduction in loan demand and stricter supply conditions. The reduction regarded mortgages and involved low-income households and the self-employed. Recourse to consumer credit remained stable; it increased for low-income households. Household debt sustainability, measured by debt as a proportion of income and assets, did not worsen; debt service for mortgages as a ratio of income decreased for low-income households. The percentage of vulnerable households i.e. those with a high debt service to income, remained unchanged from 2008 to 2010, when the sharp reduction in income was offset by a marked fall in interest rates; simulations for 2011-2012 show modest changes in this indicator. Over-indebted households i.e. those permanently unable to repay their debt, are estimated at 160,000 or 0.6 per cent of the total.