Debt Swiss debtor rate fell slightly in 2024
Slightly more private individuals in Switzerland were in debt in 2024 than in the previous year. However, due to population growth, the debtor rate has fallen slightly. The canton of Neuchâtel still has the highest figure.
31.03.2025, 09:49
SDA
With a total of 414,364 over-indebted people, the number rose by 1.5% compared to the previous year, as the credit agency CRIF reported on Monday. This brought the debtor rate to 5.5 percent after 5.6 percent in 2023.
The debtor ratio is calculated on the basis of private individuals over the age of 18 who have debt enforcement proceedings from the request for continuation, bankruptcies and certificates of loss.
There are major regional differences, CRIF continued. Western Switzerland, for example, has the highest number of over-indebted individuals. According to the data, the canton of Neuchâtel has the highest rate of debtors at 9.2 percent, as in the previous year, followed by Geneva with 8.7 percent, Basel-Stadt with 7.6 percent, Solothurn with 7.1 percent and Vaud with 6.8 percent.
Meanwhile, the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden has the lowest debtor rate in Switzerland at just 1.4%. According to CRIF, the central Swiss cantons of Uri, Obwalden, Zug and Nidwalden also have a below-average number of debtors.
Men are more heavily indebted
According to CRIF, there are also major differences between the sexes: Men are therefore more over-indebted than women.
This applies most to men aged between 40 and 44, for whom the debtor rate is 10 percent. In contrast, there is practically no difference between the sexes among young adults aged between 18 and 24.
