The Central Bank of Russia published an analytical review of retail lending trends for January–June 2025, reporting that households’ over-indebtedness continued to decrease as both borrower numbers and total outstanding loans declined. The number of borrowers using banks and microfinance organisations (MFOs) fell by 0.2 million to 49.7 million, while outstanding household loans decreased to RUB 37.8 trillion. Borrowers with three or more loans also became fewer, but this group still accounted for almost half of total outstanding household loans. The review also points to a change in bank customer behaviour towards repaying existing debt rather than taking out new loans, while tighter bank requirements encouraged some borrowers to shift to MFOs, whose customer base rose to 13.8 million, up 1.7 million in the first half of 2025. Starting from 2026, MFOs will have to calculate borrowers’ debt burden using either official sources of information about incomes or Rosstat’s average per capita income.
Central Bank of Russia 2025-12-10
Central Bank of Russia reports H1 2025 household borrowers fell to 49.7 million and flags 2026 debt-burden calculation change for microfinance organisations
The Central Bank of Russia's review of retail lending trends for January–June 2025 shows a decline in household over-indebtedness, with borrower numbers and outstanding loans decreasing to 49.7 million and RUB 37.8 trillion, respectively. Despite fewer borrowers with multiple loans, this group still represents nearly half of total household loans. From 2026, microfinance organisations must use official income data or Rosstat's average income to calculate borrowers' debt burden.