In Lower Franconia, fewer and fewer people are over-indebted – despite the corona pandemic. This is now shown by the SchnuldnerAtlas 2021 from Creditreform Würzburg. Over-indebted is someone who spends more money than they earn.
According to this, around 68,500 people in the region have such high debts that they can no longer pay them off on their own – that’s around 7,000 fewer than the year before.
At the same time, the number of over-indebted people in Lower Franconia is at its lowest level since the surveys began in 2004. On average, 6.2 percent of people are currently unable to repay their debts – seven years earlier it was around 6.6 percent.
Even compared to the rest of Germany, the region is on solid ground. Nationwide, the over-indebtedness rate is 8.9 percent.
Consumers more cautious during the pandemic
Reason for this development: According to Creditreform, people were more reluctant to spend money during the corona pandemic. In addition, the labor market situation improved in 2021. In addition, government financial aid has supported the economy and the economy.
Schweinfurt district with the lowest over-indebtedness rate
In a regional comparison, the district of Schweinfurt has the lowest over-indebtedness rate at 4.5 percent. Even in a nationwide comparison, the district comes in third place for the least heavily indebted.
But the districts of Würzburg and Main-Spessart also do well. In the district of Würzburg, 4.7 percent of all adults have such high debts that they can no longer pay them off on their own – in Main-Spessart it is around five percent.
In the city of Würzburg, the debtor ratio is around seven percent. The rate is highest in the city of Schweinfurt. Around every tenth person there is over-indebted. Nevertheless: Here, too, the number of over-indebted people has decreased.
In general, however, over-indebtedness in rural areas is significantly lower than in the cities
Men are more likely to be over-indebted than women
Lower Franconian men are more often over-indebted than women. Because: According to Creditreform, men are more willing to take risks when it comes to financial decisions. As often the main breadwinner, they often assume greater financial responsibility.
It also shows that most of the over-indebted people in the region are between 40 and 49 years old. But the debtor density is also still high among 30 to 39-year-olds.
reasons for over-indebtedness
Currently, the main reason for over-indebtedness is that people live beyond their means. According to Creditreform, too much is being bought and consumed even though the financial resources are not available.
In the past, people increasingly got into a spiral of debt because of unemployment – but this reason no longer plays a role.
Outlook: More over-indebted people again
Meanwhile, Creditreform is assuming that the cases of over-indebtedness in Lower Franconia will increase again – already this year. People will probably spend more again, while the cost of living will rise at the same time, according to Creditreform.
In addition, the positive trend in unemployment in Germany is apparently obscuring the fact that the problem of long-term unemployment is likely to worsen in the wake of the Corona crisis.
In addition, the over-indebtedness does not develop in leaps and bounds, but mostly with a time lag. Among other things, bridging aid has saved many self-employed people from insolvency during Corona – but the financial support is not a substitute for income in the long term.
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