Nearly 250,000 Belgians Struggle to Repay Consumer Loans

Nearly a quarter of a million Belgians are falling behind on their consumer loan repayments, with new data from the National Bank of Belgium (NBB) revealing that 242,744 people were in arrears on at least one consumer loan or private credit at the end of 2025. The figures, published jointly by Belgian financial newspapers L’Echo and De Tijd and reported by Belga, mark the sharpest annual increase in payment defaults since 2021 and signal a deepening debt crisis among Belgian households.

Key Developments

According to the NBB’s 2025 statistical report, approximately 110,000 new payment defaults were recorded for private credit in 2025, compared to roughly 94,500 in 2024 — a 16% year-over-year increase. The total outstanding debt in default on consumer credit has now reached nearly €1.6 billion, as Belga reported.

However, the data reveals a striking paradox: while the number of Belgians holding consumer credit has been declining since 2021, the number of defaults is rising sharply. This suggests that a smaller, increasingly fragile pool of borrowers is accounting for a growing share of payment difficulties, potentially indicating that lenders have tightened credit standards for lower-risk borrowers while continuing to extend credit to those already financially vulnerable.

The NBB itself cautions that part of the increase may be attributable to expanded reporting requirements. Since 2024, financial institutions have been required to register more types of credits and arrears, and the central bank overhauled its technical data collection system. The NBB noted in its press release that these changes caused “a break in certain statistical series,” urging caution when comparing 2024-2025 data with earlier years.

The Rise of Buy Now, Pay Later

A significant factor in the growing debt crisis is the proliferation of “Buy Now, Pay Later” (BNPL) applications such as Klarna, Afterpay, and Alma. These apps allow consumers to defer payment for purchases, often without clear disclosure that they constitute a form of credit. An in-depth investigation by RTBF highlighted that young people are particularly vulnerable to these products.

“Many young people use these products without realizing they are actually a form of credit,” an SPF Économie spokesperson told RTBF. “When they forget a repayment, penalties can quickly push them into a vicious cycle.”

Milla, a student and Klarna user interviewed for the investigation, described her experience: “At first, it seems great. You tell yourself you’ll pay later. But the fees come quickly. It always starts like that.” She added: “This app, for me, is the devil!”

By the end of 2026, new EU regulations are expected to bring BNPL apps under formal consumer credit control by the NBB, closing a regulatory gap that has allowed these services to operate in a gray area.

Broader Financial Stress

The consumer credit crisis is part of a wider pattern of household financial distress. According to the latest annual report from the SPF Finances, the number of repayment plans for tax debts has more than doubled in recent years. Belgian households face rising living costs, and the country ranks as the fourth most indebted in the European Union in terms of public debt.

Giorgia Pergolizzi, a workshop facilitator on debt prevention at Haute École du Hainaut in Mons, described the societal pressures driving overconsumption: “We are in a society of permanent overconsumption. Young people are immersed in advertising and continuous stimulation. Even for adults, it becomes difficult to resist.”

Analysis: A System Under Strain

Belgium’s “règlement collectif de dettes” (collective debt settlement) procedure, created in 1999, offers a path for over-indebted individuals to have a court-appointed mediator manage their finances for five to seven years. Lawyer Gerry Derreveaux, who specializes in these cases, described it as “a second chance” for people who arrive “after years of hardship, seizures, and constant fear.”

However, Anne Defossez, a legal expert in consumer credit at the Centre d’Appui-Médiation de Dettes in Brussels, cautioned that the system has limits: “Collective debt settlement often resolves the accounting dimension of the problem, but not necessarily the root causes.” These root causes, experts note, can include compulsive buying behavior, which Dr. Marilyne Dhenin, an addiction specialist, describes as “an addictive behavior” where “people buy to relieve tension, anxiety, or emotional suffering.”

What’s Next

With nearly €1.6 billion in consumer credit debt now in default and the number of struggling borrowers at a record high, the pressure is mounting on Belgian policymakers to address both the symptoms and the underlying causes of household over-indebtedness. The forthcoming regulation of BNPL apps represents a step forward, but experts argue that broader measures — including financial education, stronger solvency checks, and support for compulsive spending behaviors — will be needed to stem the tide.

The NBB’s next statistical report, due in 2027, will provide the first clear picture of whether the 2024-2025 spike represents a genuine deterioration in household finances or is largely a statistical artifact of expanded reporting. Either way, the human toll is already evident: nearly 250,000 Belgians are caught in a debt trap from which escape is proving increasingly difficult.