Economic commentary: Household indebtedness in Sweden – update for 2014

Date 29/01/2015

In May 2014, an economic commentary was published on how indebted Swedish households were over the period July 2010 to July 2013 . This economic commentary complements that analysis with newly collected data for the period August 2013 to July 2014. In general, the differences between the periods are minor.

The results can be summed up in the following four points:

1. For households with mortgages, the average debt ratio increased from about 313 per cent in July 2013 to about 315 per cent in July 2014.
2. The debt ratio for households in higher income groups has increased more than the debt ratio for households in lower income groups.
3. The average debt ratio has increased slightly more for individuals in higher age groups than for individuals in lower age groups.
4. The rate of repayments (amortisation payments) for individuals with mortgages remained largely unchanged between the periods.

This commentary reports debt ratios for households with mortgages in various income groups in July 2014 and repayment rates over the period July 2013 to July 2014. This result has also been published in the most recent Financial Stability Report.

Here the debt ratios have only been calculated for indebted households, which means that their levels cannot be compared with the aggregate debt ratio for all households in Sweden, which was about 173 per cent in the third quarter of 2014.

Read the entire commentary: Household indebtedness in Sweden is increasing – update for 2014

By Gustav Alfelt and Jakob Winstrand
The authors work in the Financial Stability Department of the Riksbank.