The country’s northernmost county has the highest consumer debt per capita and most municipalities in the top tier. At the top is Gamvik municipality with 1,130 inhabitants.
Here is Mehamn, located in Gamvik municipality. The municipality is the Norwegian municipality with the highest unsecured consumer debt per capita.
–Hanna Kristin Hjardar / VG
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– It is not unexpected that the differences are large when you look at total debt in NOK, but there is a spread of almost NOK 10,000 on average per capita from the county top to bottom, says CEO Egil Årrestad in the Debt Register.
The Debt Register, which is owned by TietoEvry, has now also begun to offer geographically distributed statistics on how the debt situation is in Norwegian municipalities and counties.
Among the counties, the populous Viken has the highest share of interest-bearing unsecured debt, as much as NOK 38.6 billion. Møre and Romsdal have the lowest share, with NOK 7.4 billion.
However, the highest interest-bearing debt per capita has Troms and Finnmark with an average of about NOK 42,000 per capita. It is the lowest in Trøndelag with an average of around NOK 32,000 per inhabitant.
– We want a Norwegian municipality or county to be able to monitor developments locally, so that they can possibly implement local measures if needed, says Årrestad.
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—Managing Director Egil Årrestad in the Debt Register says that it is not surprising that the debt has gone down during the period when the corona measures have been the most stringent.
–debt Register
Small municipality at the top
Among the Norwegian municipalities, the Gamvik municipality in Troms and Finnmark has the highest consumer debt per capita.
According to Statistics Norway, the municipality had about 1,130 inhabitants in the first quarter, and the statistics say nothing about how many this debt is distributed.
In Gamvik municipality, the average consumption debt per capita is NOK 67,000, while in Valle municipality in Agder it is on average NOK 15,000.
Troms and Finnmark have 16 of the top 30 municipalities in the overview.
The people behind the statistics
County Mayor Ivar B. Prestbakmo (Sp) of Troms and Finnmark says he is primarily concerned about individuals who have so much consumer debt that they cannot handle it.
“The development is that several ports are in a prolonged economic crisis, it is worrying,” says Prestbakmo to E24.
Many of the counties in his county that are at the top of the list are small municipalities. Thus, a few people with high debt will be able to make a big impact in these statistics.
– Generally speaking, large consumer debt is cause for concern. It is a type of loan that can present major financial challenges, says Prestbakmo.
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In Norway as a whole, the total unsecured debt has been reduced since the corona crisis occurred.
Increased consumption
Interest-bearing unsecured debt fell from NOK 170.6 billion on March 12 to NOK 162.8 billion on June 15, according to the debt register.
The non-interest-bearing unsecured debt is also recorded in the register, which towards the end of the crisis has turned from decline to rise.
These are typically credit card purchases, which have not yet been due. Towards the end of April there was a considerable decline, but from May this has increased sharply.
However, overall, there has been a fall from the measures introduced in March until mid-June. The unsecured non-interest-bearing debt has been reduced from NOK 23.9 billion to NOK 22 billion.
In the lowest week in April, this was measured at NOK 16.9 billion.
DNB korttransaksjonstall also shows that consumption had a deep dive shortly after the stringent corona measures were introduced in March, but that at the last update they measured more card transactions than during the same week last year.
DNB’s card transactions:
See the corona crisis clearly
– The figures show that the corona crisis has a clear impact on total unsecured debt. Reduced consumption has resulted in a decline, says Årrestad in the Debt Register.
Developments for interest-bearing debt have leveled off at the same time as non-interest-bearing debt has increased.
– It is natural for people to be more careful about the money when the situation has been as it has been. Expensive travel and goods were not purchased when the measures were at its strictest. Now it seems that Norwegians are spending money again, says Årrestad.
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