Overview
- Creditreform's Schuldneratlas, published on Thursday and using data with a reference date of October 1, 2026, says 7.36 million adults in Germany are overindebted, a 4.1 percent increase or about 293,000 more than the recalculated 2025 baseline.
- People aged 30 to 49 remain the largest group affected, with roughly 17 percent of 30–39-year-olds showing overindebtedness markers, while the under-30 cohort grew fastest, rising 5.8 percent to about 1.17 million cases.
- Early, pre-judicial distress has surged: 'weiche' markers such as reminders and collection procedures rose to roughly 1.87 million cases, an increase of around ten percent that signals many households entering debt trajectories that can harden into garnishments or insolvency.
- Regional gaps are wide: Bremen records the highest overindebtedness rate (about 15.89 percent) and Bavaria the lowest (about 7.58 percent), with large rises in industrial and urban areas such as North Rhine-Westphalia and parts of the Ruhr.
- Interpretation and policy responses are shaped by Creditreform's revised 2026 methodology and by imminent EU rules that require creditworthiness checks for small loans from November 20, 2026, and Creditreform warns the number of overindebted consumers will likely rise further, putting more pressure on debt counselling and social services.