Norwegians’ consumer debt is increasing: – May indicate that the summer holiday was more expensive than planned

General manager of Norwegian Debt Information, Svein Ove Karstensen, says that despite a decrease in consumer debt in June of 2.3 billion, in July and August there was a significant increase in both interest-bearing credit card debt and repayment loans.

– This may indicate that the summer holiday was more expensive than planned, and that more people are now spreading the payments over the autumn, he says in a press release.

On 1 September, the total consumer debt in Norway was NOK 167.3 billion. There is an increase of 2.7 billion in August.

During the past 12 months, consumer debt has increased by NOK 11.4 billion (7.3 per cent). Installment loans have increased by 5.7 billion (6.6 per cent), and credit card debt has increased by 5.7 billion (8.3 per cent). Payment cards are unchanged compared to the same period last year.

Consumer debt increased markedly in the last quarter of last year, particularly due to a growth in repayment loans.

– Although growth was lower in the first half of the year, we now see a clear increase in the last two months, mainly driven by credit card use. The interest-bearing credit card debt is growing faster than at the same time last year, says Karstensen.