Canadian credit demand slowed 4.5% year over year, but the Equifax Full-Year 2025 Global Credit Trends shows Australian mortgage demand reached a high of 12.3% and New Zealand inquiry volumes increased 17.2% In South America, Argentina saw a 10% decline in inquiries. These statistics highlight how consumers navigate the current economic landscape depending on their specific regional economic conditions and interest rates.
Demand
Demand
Delinquencies
Credit Cards
Overall Debt
Chart data is indexed as of Q4’19, except India which is Q4’21. The New Zealand index was rebased in Q4’21 due to account adjustments. Chart data may not include all countries represented in the chart legend.
North America
Canada: Overall demand for new credit has slowed, with consumer inquiries falling across most major non-mortgage credit products. This broad-based decline in credit-seeking activity — particularly in bank and credit card inquiries — reflects a growing caution among consumers navigating the current economic landscape.
Europe
Non-Mortgage: Includes Buy Now Pay Later, credit cards, installment loans, personal loans and automobile loans. Availability and coverage will vary by region.
The Equifax Full-Year 2025 Global Credit Trends reveals U.S. mortgage debt grew 3%, while Canada's auto debt rose 7.7%. In Australia, average mortgage limits climbed 8.7% to reach $550,000 as Spain reported steady personal loan growth. UK credit card balances rose 12.6%. These metrics show that while debt is rising, it remains at manageable levels in most established global credit markets.
Chart data is indexed as of Q4’19, except India which is Q4’21. The New Zealand index was rebased in Q4’21 due to account adjustments. Chart data may not include all countries represented in the chart legend
Overall Debt
Mortgage Debt
Non-Mortgage Debt
Delinquencies
Credit Cards
Overall Debt
Demand
Australia: Recent government incentives have contributed to portfolio growth, with the average limit of newly opened accounts, which rose by 8.7% in Q4‘25, now reaching approximately 550K.
United States: Following a minor dip in Q1’25, the U.S. non-mortgage debt index resumed a steady, gradual climb throughout the rest of 2025, maintaining its overall long-term growth trend.
Canada: Total non-mortgage consumer debt climbed to $698B, marking a 4.5% YoY increase. The increase is mainly driven by credit card debt (4%) and auto debt (7.7%). Furthermore, average non-mortgage debt per consumer rose to $22,377, up by 2.0% YoY.
United Kingdom: The gradual long term increasing trend in credit card balances continued into Q4’25, demonstrating the strong demand and supply in the market. Total credit card debt is now 12.6% above pre-pandemic levels.
Argentina: Throughout the second half of 2025, debt levels maintained a downward trend across credit cards as well as both secured and unsecured loans.
United States: In 2025, U.S. mortgage debt continued a steady, unbroken upward trajectory, ending the year with a 3% YoY increase in Q4‘25.
Canada: Mortgage debt growth rebounded strongly in the second half of 2025, accelerating to a 2.65% YoY increase in Q4‘25.
U.S. card utilization dropped 300 basis points to 20.9% per the Equifax Full-Year 2025 Global Credit Trends. Canada saw utilization fall to 22.8%, its lowest level since 2023, while Brazil’s revolving rates hit 400% and Argentina’s utilization levels remained stable through the second half of 2025. These movements suggest that cardholders are becoming more disciplined in their spending and repayment habits across these major international credit markets.
Chart data is indexed as of Q4’19, except India which is Q4’21. The New Zealand index was rebased in Q4’21 due to account adjustments. Chart data may not include all countries represented in the chart legend.
Credit Cards
Card Utilization
Card Delinquency
Delinquencies
Credit Cards
Overall Debt
Demand
United States: In 2025, U.S. credit card 90+ delinquencies experienced a sharp spike in Q4’25 after remaining relatively flat (near late-2024 levels) for the first half of the year. This sudden year-end surge pushed the Q4'25 number to 1.86%, the highest since reaching the post-pandemic peak of 1.92%
in Q4'24.
United States: U.S. credit card utilization remained remarkably flat just above 20% through 2025, slowing in the first half of the year and down 30 bps YoY to 20.9% by Q4’25.
Canada: Credit card utilization fell to 22.8% by the end of 2025, reaching its lowest level since Q2’23. This was driven by below average seasonal holiday period spending combined with rising credit limits.
Canada: Younger consumers, specifically late Millennials and early Gen Z, are the primary drivers behind a continued rise in credit card delinquencies, pushing total 90+ day dollar delinquency rates up by 10.7% YoY and 2.6% QoQ.
Brazil: Credit card interest rates, particularly for revolving credit, remained at extremely elevated levels throughout 2025. According to Central Bank data, average revolving credit rates stayed above 400% annually by the year-end. These conditions continued to constrain borrowers repayment capacity, sustaining pressure on household finances and contributing to persistently high delinquency levels.
U.S. mortgage delinquency reached 0.80%, while Canada saw 1.4 million people miss payments. Equifax Full-Year 2025 Global Credit Trends report shows Australia's delinquency value grew 6.8% to $403,000 and New Zealand defaults fell 2 basis points. Identifying regional pockets of risk helps to mitigate potential losses effectively while maintaining a healthy and profitable global portfolio.
Chart data is indexed as of Q4’19, except India which is Q4’21. The New Zealand index was rebased in Q4’21 due to account adjustments. Chart data may not include all countries represented in the chart legend.
Delinquency: The delinquency rate refers to the percentage of loans that are 90 or more days past due.
Delinquencies
North America
Delinquencies
Credit Cards
Overall Debt
Demand
United States: Mortgage climbed steadily throughout 2025, increasing from 0.68% to 0.80% by Q4‘25. Compared to 2024, personal loans followed a similar fluctuating pattern throughout 2025, albeit at slightly lower rates and closed out 2025 at 118.8, compared to 119.1 in Q4‘24.
Credit Cards
Overall Debt
Delinquencies
Demand
Overall Debt
Credit Cards
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Spain: Total non-mortgage debt continued its gradual upward trajectory, closing the year with a consistent YoY increase. This growth was primarily supported by a recovery in consumer credit and personal loans, reflecting stronger household confidence heading into 2026.
*Includes Buy Now Pay Later, credit cards, installment loans, personal loans and automobile loans. Availability and coverage will vary by region.
Spain: Credit demand remained solid through year-end, driven by home acquisition loans and improved consumer confidence. While interest rates stabilized in 2H‘25, favorable housing market expectations continued to support steady growth in new credit originations.
United Kingdom: Following a mixed picture at the start of 2025, delinquency rates have since stabilized. This welcome development suggests the market is finding its footing, as consumers continue to adapt to the financial climate and resume the positive trajectory observed at the end of 2024.
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Debt: Money borrowed by consumers at a point in time. Refers to amortized limit or outstanding balance depending on data collected from each region, except Spain which reports just defaulted assets because Spanish Bureau manages negative data only.
Non-Mortgage: Includes Buy Now Pay Later, credit cards, installment loans, personal loans and automobile loans. Availability and coverage will vary by region.
Demand
Delinquencies
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Australia: General delinquency rates have softened versus previous quarter, yet credit card risks are climbing. While late delinquencies (90+) saw only a fractional rise in account numbers, the financial value of these delinquencies grew by 9.4% YoY.
Europe
Argentina: Demand declined during the latter half of 2025, underperforming compared to the first half of the year.
South America
Ecuador: A decline in inquiries was observed, which aligns with a more cautious consumer approach and implies an improvement in conversion rates.
Australia: Mortgage inquiries posting their strongest year-on-year growth since 2021 (+12.3%) driven by major government incentives for first home buyers. New credit card accounts rose during Q4‘25, driven by younger generations aged between 18 to 25.
New Zealand: Mortgage inquiry volumes surged 17.2% YoY in Q4‘25. However, the more subdued growth in active accounts suggests that this spike is being driven by increased comparison shopping and lender churn. Personal loan and credit card inquiries each saw YoY decline of around 1.0%.
Oceania & Asia
Argentina: The decline in credit card balances is linked to the stagnation of the exchange rate between the U.S. Dollar and the Argentine Peso, alongside a monthly inflation rate of 2.8%. Utilization levels remained stable throughout the second half of 2025.
Canada: While consumer credit performance shows year-over-year improvement, it remains under pressure with delinquencies rising steadily throughout the current year. In Q4‘25, more than 1.5 million Canadians missed a credit payment — a number that was 30.7K lower YoY, but still 31.5K higher QoQ.
South America
Argentina: Delinquency rates continue to rise, in line with the trend observed in every quarter since the beginning of 2025.
Ecuador: Delinquency remained stable overall, mitigating flat real incomes with collection strategies and provisioning.
Brazil: By Q4’25, delinquency showed signs of renewed pressure, driven by high household debt, elevated interest rates, and sustained credit use. Despite a still resilient labor market, tighter financial conditions limited borrowers capacity and gradually deteriorated credit quality.
Oceania & Asia
Australia: Despite a quarterly decline in delinquencies, financial exposure is growing. 90+ delinquencies are flat in volume but up 6.8% in value compared to Q4‘24, a clear sign that credit stress is migrating to larger loan balances.
New Zealand: Late-stage mortgage delinquencies have turned a corner and are now in a slow decline. As of Q4‘25, delinquencies are down 2bps sequentially and 3bps YoY, confirming that the previous upward trend has peaked. All other consumer products are slowly improving as well.
Brazil: In Q4’25, credit expansion remained strong, with total consumer credit and household lending rising notably, while non-mortgage debt continued to grow rapidly and constituted a large share of household debt.
India: Demand for gold and auto loans is increasing with the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) at approximately 40%.
Ecuador: Credit card utilization remains stable, supported by steady debt and limits.
India: Overall industry delinquencies are stable except lower ticket size. Credit cards continue to be the highest risk segment, mortgages are showing a gradual but notable rise in stress.
Spain: Mortgage debt maintained its trend toward stability. Q4’25 showed a slight recovery in new balances as improved credit conditions and stable interest rates encouraged home acquisition activity.
Brazil: Credit demand continued to moderate in Q4‘25, a reflection of tight monetary conditions and the 15% Selic rate. Lenders remained cautious due to high household and corporate debt and persistent delinquency pressures.
India: Mortgage debt rebounded strongly in 2H’25, driven by sustained demand for home ownership.
India: Credit cards within the open market segment declined through the end of 2025, resulting in both lower acquisitions and also lower limits on new acquisitions.