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06 August 2026

Fact Checked

Credit Card and
Debt Statistics

Name: Credit Card and Debt Statistics
Creator: Savvy
Published: 2026-08-06T09:36:19+09:30

Created by our team of experts.

Credit cards and other types of borrowing all shape how much debt Australians carry. This page brings together the latest data on how much Australians owe, which debts are growing and where financial pressure is building in 2026.

Key Australian debt stats: 2026

177.7%

Household debt-to-income ratio
$44.24 billion

Outstanding credit card balances
23%

Australians with BNPL debt

29%

Mortgage holders at risk of stress
183,228

People contacting the National Debt Helpline
2nd

Australia’s OECD household debt ranking

Australia's household debt-to-income ratio

Household debt-to-income ratio: 177.7%

Australia's household debt-to-income ratio sat at 177.7% in the March 2026 quarter, down from a peak of around 187% in 2018, according to ABS-sourced RBA data.

Housing debt accounted for around three-quarters of the total (75.7%), with the remainder including personal and other non-housing household debt.

What does a debt-to-income ratio of 177.7% mean?

The household debt-to-income ratio compares total household debt with annual disposable income (the money left after tax). A ratio of 177.7% means Australian households owe about $1.78 for every $1 of annual disposable income.

Higher ratios can leave households more exposed to financial stress if interest rates rise or incomes fall.

Types of debt held by Australians

% of population with credit card debt: 38%

While housing makes up the majority of household debt by value, credit card debt is the most commonly held form of debt in Australia. 38% of Australians have credit card debt, compared with 34% who have a home loan, according to NAB data.

The figures also show how common unsecured debt has become, with many Australians holding BNPL debt, taking out personal loans or borrowing money from family and friends.

These categories are not mutually exclusive, meaning one person may hold several types of debt at the same time.

The average personal loan taken out through Savvy in the 2025-26 financial year was $27,701.

The percentage of Australians holding each debt also does not reflect how much they owe. Home loans are held by fewer people than credit cards but account for a much larger share of household debt because mortgage balances are generally substantially higher.

Credit card debt in Australia

Outstanding credit card balance: $44.24 billion
Outstanding balances on personal cards: 77%

Australia's total outstanding balance on credit and charge cards reached $44.24 billion in May 2026, according to the RBA. While still below the peak of more than $52 billion recorded in 2018, outstanding balances have trended upwards since mid-2024 amid ongoing cost-of-living pressures.

Most of this debt sits on personal credit cards rather than commercial cards. Personal cards accounted for 77% of all outstanding balances in May 2026, compared with 23% on commercial cards.

Around 49% ($21.5 billion) of outstanding balances were accruing interest. At the average credit card purchase rate of 18.61%, that balance could generate around $11 million in interest charges every day.

Buy now, pay later (BNPL) statistics

% of Australians with BNPL debt: 23%
Average outstanding BNPL balance: $754

Nearly a quarter of Australians (23%) currently hold BNPL debt, up from 20% in the previous two quarters, according to research by NAB. Usage is highest among 30- to 49-year-olds (30%) and 18- to 29-year-olds (28%), and higher among women (25%) than men (19%).

BNPL balances tend to be modest compared to other debt types. The average outstanding BNPL balance was $754 in Q1 2026, well below the average credit card balance of $3,139, though this has increased from $633 in Q2 2025.

Despite fewer new BNPL applications, the overall BNPL portfolio continued to expand.

Equifax data shows the number of active BNPL accounts was 4.7% higher in Q1 2026 than a year earlier, while total credit limits increased 7.8%.

At the same time, new BNPL applications fell 21.2% and the average credit limit on newly opened accounts declined 14%, suggesting consumers are opening fewer and smaller BNPL facilities.

Since 10 June 2025, BNPL products have been regulated under Australia’s consumer credit laws.

This means BNPL accounts can now appear on credit reports and may be considered by lenders when assessing applications for home loans and other credit.

Credit scores in Australia

Median credit score: 754 (Very Good)
Average approved loan for Excellent-score borrowers: $42,827

Lenders use credit scores to assess how likely a borrower is to repay credit on time. Australia's two main consumer credit reporting bodies are Equifax and Experian. Each uses its own scoring model, but a higher score generally indicates lower credit risk.

Among Savvy's settled customers, the median Equifax credit score was 754, placing the typical borrower in the Very Good band. More than 57% had a Very Good or Excellent credit score.

The data also shows a clear relationship between credit score and borrowing power. Customers with an Excellent credit score were approved for an average loan of $42,827, almost 60% more than borrowers in the Below Average band ($26,836).

What Australians use finance for, by credit score

Savvy loan data shows vehicle purchases made up the majority of recorded loan purposes across every credit score band. However, borrowers in the Average band were nearly three times more likely to use finance for debt consolidation than those in the Excellent band (9.9% vs 3.8%).

Financial hardship and debt stress

Australians with unpaid credit card debt: 36%
Increase in personal loan hardship accounts: 10%
People seeking debt help: 183,228
New personal insolvencies: 3,161

Over one in three cardholders carry unpaid debt

Roy Morgan found that 36% of Australian credit card holders leave part of their balance unpaid each month. This equates to an estimated 2.44 million Australians, or 11% of the adult population.

Among those carrying debt, the median unpaid balance was $1,037. Mortgage holders owed the most at $1,342, compared with $911 for renters and $787 for people who owned their home outright.

An estimated 423,000 Australians carried more than $5,000 in unpaid credit card debt each month, equivalent to 6% of all credit card holders.

Hardship assistance is rising, particularly for personal loans

The number of accounts receiving financial hardship assistance increased in early 2026, according to Equifax.

Non-mortgage hardship accounts rose 2.9% in the March quarter, compared with a 0.4% increase for mortgages.

Personal loans recorded the highest hardship rate, with 1.02% of accounts in hardship as of February 2026. The number of personal loan accounts receiving assistance also climbed 10% over the quarter.

Credit type	Hardship rate
Personal loan	1.02%
Car loan	0.73%
Mortgage	0.48%
Credit card	0.14%
Source: Equifax, Q1 2026

Record numbers are seeking debt help

A record 183,228 people contacted the National Debt Helpline in 2025–26, up 9% from the previous financial year. Demand has risen steadily over the past four years, with annual contacts increasing by almost 48% since 2021–22.

Demand continued to accelerate in 2026, with online chats rising 45% year-on-year in April and calls increasing 21%. Mortgages and housing costs were the most common reasons for seeking help, followed by credit card debt, unsecured personal loans, utilities and ATO debt.

More Australians are entering personal insolvency

There were 3,161 new personal insolvencies in the March 2026 quarter, AFSA data shows, up 6.2% on a year earlier, marking the third consecutive year of rising insolvency numbers. 12,257 people entered personal insolvency across the 2024-25 financial year overall.

Nearly half (48.9%) of new debtors had at least one BNPL debt, and excessive borrowing was the most commonly cited reason for insolvency, at 37.3%.

Mortgage debt in Australia

Housing debt-to-income ratio: 134.6%
Mortgage holders at risk of stress: 29%

Home loan debt is the dominant form of household debt in Australia. Housing debt equals 134.6% of annual household disposable income, meaning households owe about $1.35 in housing debt for every $1 of disposable income, accounting for just over three-quarters of Australia's total household debt-to-income ratio of 177.7%, according to ABS data.

Mortgage stress also remains widespread. In the three months to May 2026, Roy Morgan classified 29% of Australian mortgage holders as at risk of mortgage stress. 20.4%, about 1.084 million households, were considered extremely at risk.

You can find our full home loan statistics here →

HELP debt in Australia

As at the end of the 2024–25 financial year, total outstanding HELP debt in Australia stood at $82.18 billion, held by 2,962,650 Australians, according to ATO data.

In 2025, more than 3 million Australians had their HELP and other student loan balances cut by 20%, wiping more than $16 billion in eligible debt. The average borrower saw around $5,520 erased from a balance of around $27,600.

How Australia compares globally

Household debt-to-income (OECD): 191.57%
Global DTI ranking: 2nd
Debt owed per $1 of income: $1.92

Using the OECD’s measure, Australian household debt stood at 191.57% of gross disposable income in the December quarter of 2025. Note that this is different to the 177.7% ratio cited earlier because the OECD calculates household income differently, so the two figures should not be compared directly.

On the OECD measure, Australia had the second-highest household debt-to-income ratio among countries with available data, behind only the Netherlands at 196.32%.

While Australia's ratio has eased slightly from 195.59% in late 2023, it remains well above countries like Canada (171.56%), the UK (121.38%) and the US (91.57%).

In practice, this means the average Australian household owes close to $1.92 for every dollar it brings home after tax, one of the highest debt burdens relative to income anywhere in the developed world. However, as highlighted above, much of this is mortgage debt.