7.36 million adults in Germany are over-indebted, and the number keeps rising

About one in ten adults in Germany can no longer keep up with their financial obligations. That is the key finding of the new "Schuldneratlas" (debt atlas) from Creditreform, a major credit reporting agency.

What happened?

As of 1 October, 7.36 million people aged 18 and over were classed as over-indebted. That is 293,000 more than a year earlier, an increase of just over four percent. The national rate rose by 0.42 points to 10.58 percent.

Someone counts as over-indebted if they permanently cannot meet their financial obligations. A single reminder letter is not enough to land in that category.

A quick note on the numbers: Creditreform changed its calculation method, so the new figures cannot be compared directly with older reports. The 2025 values were recalculated retroactively to make a comparison possible. Our earlier coverage of the 2024 atlas, which put the figure at roughly 5.6 million, used the old method.

Who is affected and why?

The most common triggers are illness, addiction or accidents, followed by unemployment. Creditreform's head of economic research, Patrik-Ludwig Hantzsch, also points to sharply higher living, energy and housing costs, plus a weakening job market.

People between 30 and 49 are affected most overall. Hantzsch says those in the middle of working life, carrying many financial burdens, feel the crises most.

The number of over-indebted under-30s rose faster than average: up 5.8 percent to 1.17 million.

Where is it worst?

The gaps between regions are big. Bremen has the highest rate at 15.89 percent, followed by North Rhine-Westphalia (13.19) and Saxony-Anhalt (13.08). Bavaria has the lowest at 7.58 percent, ahead of Baden-Württemberg (8.73) and Brandenburg (9.15). Rates rose in every federal state.

At local level, the cities of Gelsenkirchen (25.43 percent) and Bremerhaven (23.67 percent) are at the bottom of the ranking. The Bavarian districts of Eichstätt (4.75) and Erlangen-Höchstadt (4.99) are at the top.

What's next?

Hantzsch does not expect relief next year. In his words, the number of over-indebted consumers will in all likelihood keep growing.

For the atlas, Creditreform analyses anonymised data from official registers, online retailers and other sources. It looks at soft signs such as reminders and debt collection, medium ones such as wage garnishments, and hard ones such as private insolvencies.