A nation living on credit: 42 million people in debt in Turkey! Average credit debt exceeds 100 thousand liras

According to data from the Banks Association of Turkey Risk Center for March 2025, the number of people with individual credit debt has risen to 42 million 159 thousand. The average debt amount per person for individual loans—which include credit cards, housing, vehicle, personal loans, and overdraft accounts—has exceeded the 100,000 TL threshold for the first time.

According to a report by Havva Gümüşkaya from BirGün, the total amount of credit card debt alone has reached 2 trillion 36 billion TL. The number of credit card users, which was 37.2 million in March of last year, has risen to 39.1 million this year.

There has also been a notable increase in Overdraft Accounts (KMH), a form of short-term borrowing. The total KMH balance, which was 220 billion liras in 2024, reached 518 billion liras as of 2025. While the number of people using these accounts rose to 30.5 million, the average debt per person reached 16,975 TL. The ratio of KMH debt that needs to be liquidated has risen to 3.6 percent.

Personal Loan Usage Dropped, Debt Burden Increased

Due to the impact of tight monetary policies, access to personal loans has become more difficult. Although the number of people using personal loans within a year fell from 13.4 million to 11.1 million, the average debt per person rose from 66,318 TL to 97,575 TL. The ratio of personal loans entering the liquidation process has also neared 5 percent.

Public Confidence in the Economy is Declining

According to the Turkey Report prepared by Istanbul Economics Research, the vast majority of the public is not satisfied with the economic situation. While 71 percent of those participating in the May survey described the current economic situation as "bad/very bad," the rate of pessimism regarding the future was recorded at 53 percent. Only 21 percent of participants expect an economic recovery, while 26 percent believe there will be no change at all.

The unemployed are among the groups struggling the most in terms of income-expenditure balance. While the rate of those saying "my income did not cover my expenses" reached 66 percent among the unemployed, this rate was determined to be 64 percent for daily wage workers. On the other hand, about one-third of retirees, individuals who are not working but not looking for a job, and civil servants responded that "my income barely covered my expenses last month."

Economic data shows that individual debt is increasing every day and the public's purchasing power is gradually weakening. The rising debt burden and the declining income balance are further deepening concerns about the economic future.