(OTTAWA) The amount Canadian households owe relative to their income rose in the first quarter of the year as disposable income fell even as debt levels continued to rise, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, household credit market debt as a share of household disposable income rose to 184.5% in the first quarter from 181.7% in the fourth quarter of 2022, it said. the federal agency.
In other words, there was $1.85 of credit market debt for every dollar of household disposable income in the first quarter.
The household debt service ratio, measured as the total obligatory principal and interest payments on credit market debt as a proportion of household disposable income, was 14.9% in the first quarter of 2023, compared to 14 .4% in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Its increase came as households borrowed $16.5 billion on a seasonally adjusted basis in the first quarter, including $11.2 billion in mortgage debt.
Seasonally adjusted total household credit market debt, which includes consumer credit and mortgage and non-mortgage loans, increased 0.6% from the fourth quarter of 2022 to $2.84 trillion in the first quarter. of 2023, including 2.11 trillion in mortgage debt.
