No. 163 - Households’ indebtedness and financial vulnerability in the Italian regions

This paper describes various aspects of the degree of indebtedness and potential financial vulnerabilities of households in the Italian regions. Micro-data from several sources suggest that the financial situation of households in Italy varies greatly from region to region; some of these differences have faded somewhat in recent years, whereas in other respects no substantial convergence can be detected. Recent trends also vary across the socio-demographic classes (income quartiles, citizenship, age of the household head, etc.), presumably owing to both factors of demand on the part of households and supply policies on the part of banks; the latter changed above all after the onset of the economic and financial crisis.