Women intensify their reliance on loans: Report

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

women borrowers rising at a faster pace than their male counterparts, a report by credit bureau CRIF Highmark said.

The portfolio outstanding of women borrowers grew to Rs30.95 lakh crore in December’23, from Rs 26.00 lakh crore in December’22, up by 19 percent compared to a 17 percent growth in the overall retail portfolio which went up to Rs 117.36 lakh crore in Decmber’23, from Rs 100.29 crore in December’22 registering a year-on-year growth of 17 percent data with the credit bureau showed.

The number of women borrowers with active loan stood at 7.83 crore as of December 23, increasing from 6.65 crore as of December 22 with a year-on-year growth of 17.8 percent. The number of men borrowers with active loans increased to 20.17 crore as of December 23 from 17.83 Crore as of December 22, with a year-on-year growth of 13.1 percent.

The share of new to credit originations volume among women borrowers is higher compared to men borrowers in calendar year 2023 for all major products except gold loans CRIF Highmark said. Share of younger women borrowers less than or equaling 35 years continued to increase over the last three years from 41.1 percent in 2021 to 45 percent in 2023. Share of women borrowers in age group 36-50 years declined from 42.4 percent in 2021 to 40.4 percent in 2023. Similarly, share of women borrowers in age group 50 or higher declined from 16.5 percent in 2021 to 14.5 percent in 2023.