Irshadgul News report,
Canada’s credit card debt has soared in the last three months of 2022 amid rising interest rates and high inflation, especially with younger Canadians who rely exclusively on credit.
Credit monitoring agency Equifax says Canada’s credit card debt has increased by more than 15 percent from the same period a year ago and has totaled more than $100 billion for the first time.
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In its latest quarterly credit trends report, the agency says total consumer credit is expected to rise to $2.37 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2022, up more than six percent from the same period in 2021.
Equifax says the impact of higher interest rates has not yet been fully felt on homeowners because many have yet to renew their mortgages, but young Canadians are feeling the pinch of inflation especially hard. are doing.
Non-mortgage lending levels were up 5.4 percent in the fourth quarter, but lending to Millennials increased 8.4 percent.
Consumers without a mortgage saw the biggest jump in missed loan payments in the fourth quarter, and the crime rate among those aged 18 to 25 rose nearly 31 percent year over year, compared to a 17 percent increase among all consumers.
© 2023 The Canadian Press