By Julian Loevenich and Katja Colmenares
319,913 Berliners are over-indebted. For every tenth adult Berliner, the income is no longer sufficient to meet the financial obligations in the long term.
Despite a slight decline in debt, Berlin is still in the third-worst place among all federal states. The situation is only worse in Saxony-Anhalt and Bremen. This is shown by the “Bürgeratlas Berlin 2022” published on Thursday by the Creditreform business information service.
Indicator of increase and decrease: the debtor ratio. It puts the number of over-indebted people in relation to the adult population. In Germany as a whole, this results in a debtor ratio of 8.48 percent. In Berlin it is an above-average 10.47 percent!
The facts
► Highest indebted district: Spandau (13.67 percent), lowest: Steglitz-Zehlendorf (6.63 percent).
► Most debtors live in the postcode area 12689 (Marzahn-Hellersdorf, between Wuhletalstraße, Ahrensfelder Chaussee and the state border). Every 5th adult lives there deep in the minus (20.72 percent).
► The debtor ratio is highest in the 40 to 49 age group at 15.31 percent.
Contrary to expectations, the new financial challenges – rising energy and consumer prices – have not yet had an impact on the report.
“The energy price explosion since spring 2022 has not yet led to an increase in consumer debt in Berlin,” it says.
That’s how high the debtor rate is in Berlin’s districts Photo: Creditreform/Debt Atlas 2022/Berlin-Brandenburg Region
But Patrick-Ludwig Hantzsch from Creditreform warns: “Over-indebtedness is a lagging factor.” Means: The currently positive numbers are deceptive. Because according to Hantzsch, the energy crisis and inflation had a delayed effect.
The top 6 reasons for debt
► In first place: unemployment.
► Separation, death and divorce are the second most common reason.
► Illness, addiction and accident are in third place.
► Uneconomical household management is the fourth most common cause of over-indebtedness.
► In fifth place: failed self-employment.
► Even a long-term extremely low income can cause over-indebtedness (sixth place).