Household debt and income grew at similar rates in Q1

By The Canadian Press | June 13, 2019 | Last updated on June 13, 2019
1 min read

Statistics Canada says the amount Canadians owe relative to their income held steady in the first quarter as debt and income grew at similar rates.

The agency says on a seasonally adjusted basis household credit market debt as a proportion of household disposable income remained at 177.6%.

In other words, there was roughly $1.78 in credit market debt, which included consumer credit, and mortgage and non-mortgage loans, for every dollar of household disposable income.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, total credit market borrowing in the quarter edged down to $20.2 billion from $20.6 billion in the previous quarter. Canadians borrowed $7.0 billion in consumer credit and non-mortgage loans, while mortgage borrowing reached $13.2 billion.

Credit market debt totalled $2.23 trillion in the first quarter including $1.45 trillion in mortgage debt and $776.4 billion in consumer credit and non-mortgage loans.

The household debt service ratio, measured as total obligated payments of principal and interest on credit market debt as a proportion of household disposable income, was 14.9% in the first quarter.

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