If loans for energy purposes are increasing, the number of loans for the purchase of new vehicles has fallen sharply (-21.5%), even falling for the first time below the 100,000 mark (96,500). There is also a drop in loans for used vehicles, but less sharp (-3%), in 2022 more loans were even granted for second-hand vehicles (109,000) than for new ones (96,500). According to the UPC, “this decline is partly explained by the persistent shortage of spare parts, the uncertainty regarding the transition to electric mobility and the long delivery times, but also by the changing habits of Belgians, such as the increase in teleworking which makes the car less essential. “
If the car remains an important reason for credit applications, it is therefore declining and this is not new: in 2018, 319,000 car loans, new and used cars were granted combined, but the following year in 2019, c It was 307,000 and we weren’t talking regarding the Covid yet. The following will see the decrease increase with 254 credits in 2020, 235 in 2021 and 205,000 in 2022.
In addition to auto and energy-saving spending, 161,000 credits were granted in 2022 for other purchases, such as appliances, electronics and furniture. A figure that shows a slight decrease of around 4%.
There remains the even more vague category of other goals, ranging from travel to the purchase of works of art through aesthetic operations, but this can also reveal difficulties in making ends meet. 192,500 of these various credits were granted in 2022, this is a clear increase compared to the 165,000 credits in 2021 and the 146,000 in 2020, but this increase is undoubtedly a sign of the recovery of consumer appetite following the Covid years since ‘in 2019, before the crisis, the figure was 205,000 credits.
A trend that can be seen in the total loans granted in recent years: the 674,000 loans in 2022 mark an increase compared to 2021 (637,000) and 2020 (672,000) but they are still far from the 802,500 in 2019 and the 811,000 in 2019. As for 2023, it’s hard to know what the trend will be. Rising interest rates might calm borrowers, but inflation might encourage them. One certainty is the general need to control or reduce one’s energy bill, which should encourage many people to continue insulating their homes and investing in energy-saving installations. We should therefore see a further increase in energy-efficient credits, while nothing suggests a rebound in automobile credits.
