In times of high inflation, the French borrow more and more to make ends meet. In 2023, more than one in two consumer loans requested (56%) aimed to cover a cash flow need, according to a barometer unveiled by Meilleurtaux this Tuesday, May 14. The nearly 400,000 requests submitted on the broker’s platform, up 10% compared to 2022, are no longer mainly linked to the financing of specific equipment, but to an urgent lack of funds. The previous year, requests for cash flow requirements already concerned 48% of credits. One in four consumer loans in 2023 concerns the financing of a vehicle and 15% the carrying out of work.
If the number of consumer loans increases, the amount borrowed (8,020 euros on average) is down significantly, by 23% in one year. The loan duration also falls by two months, to 43 months on average. “The rise in rates and the prudence of lenders are the main reasons for the drop in borrowing,” explains Maël Bernier, spokesperson for Meilleurtaux, in a press release. The average net income of borrowers (2,495 euros alone, 4,307 euros for couples), however, remains stable.
Three out of four loans requested for cash flow reasons concern single people (single, divorced or widowed) compared to 23.4% for couples. “More fragile” profiles, notes Maël Bernier, “who alone suffer increases linked to inflation and must face cash flow problems”. On average, these are the smallest loans, at 4,467 euros.
Couples, on the other hand, represent the majority of consumer credit requests to finance work (58.7%). “Banks are in fact less cautious about lending to people carrying out a project of this type in pairs, the risk being lower because it is shared between two salaries,” notes the Meilleurtaux spokesperson. The average loan is much higher: 13,012 for financing a car, 11,642 euros for work.