Global household debt has risen to an all-time high, with its rate of growth accelerating last year. This is according to the latest data from the annual Allianz Global Wealth Report, which tracks household wealth and debt in nearly 60 countries. Debt is rising most sharply in Eastern Europe and Bulgaria, whilst accumulated inflation is eroding part of the gross growth in financial wealth – another key finding in the report.  

Global household debt is set to rise to €56.9 trillion by the end of 2025 – the highest level to date. The growth rate for last year was 3.4 per cent, compared with 3.1 per cent a year earlier. Despite the accelerated growth in 2025, the figure remains significantly below the long-term historical growth rate of 4.5 per cent. Furthermore, the net financial wealth of households worldwide is growing at a faster rate. Global financial assets rose by 8.6 per cent in 2025 to a record €268.4 trillion, against the backdrop of a challenging geopolitical and economic environment. According to Allianz, the bulk of the increase stems from rising asset prices in the financial markets.

Eastern Europe and Bulgaria – fastest-growing household debt

The trend in household debt accumulation is extremely unevenly distributed, with the highest growth in new debt concentrated in developing regions, amongst which Bulgaria stands out in particular – Eastern Europe, which leads the way in debt growth with an impressive 11.8 per cent year-on-year. This is followed by Latin America and Asia (excluding China and Japan), where debt is rising by 10.8 per cent and 7 per cent respectively.

Although Eastern Europe still has a low debt-to-GDP ratio by global standards (21.8 per cent of GDP), the double-digit rate of debt growth is a signal for creditors and debt management experts to pay closer attention. The rapid accumulation of liabilities in an inflationary environment, coupled with rapidly rising living costs, increases the vulnerability of household budgets in the event of economic turbulence. 

In particular, Bulgarian households’ debt is growing faster than their financial assets, the Allianz report further shows. Household debt in Bulgaria has risen by 18.1 per cent to €37.2 billion – the fastest growth in this indicator among the countries surveyed after Turkey, significantly outpacing the rate of growth in assets. Consequently, Bulgarians’ net financial assets are growing in real terms by 7.3 per cent to €99.3 billion. With net financial assets of €14,790 per capita, Bulgaria ranks 36th among the world’s wealthiest countries in 2025. The gross financial assets of Bulgarian households are set to rise by 10 per cent in 2025 to €136.5 billion – a slight slowdown compared with the 11.2 per cent growth recorded in 2024, slightly below the figure for Eastern Europe as a whole (11.2 per cent) and above the global average (8.6 per cent). 

The end of the credit boom in China and the geographical shift

The most dramatic change in the global debt landscape comes from China. After two decades in which Chinese household debt grew significantly – by an average of 17.5 per cent annually – the rate of growth had shrunk to just 0.5 per cent by 2025. The crisis in the property sector and the decline in consumer confidence have brought the country’s debt-fuelled growth to a virtual standstill. For the first time, the focus in the world’s second-largest country by land area and population has shifted sharply from expansion to caution and the reduction of exposure.

Historically, debt has been shifting steadily from the West to the East, the report also reveals. In 2005, North America, Western Europe and Japan accounted for nearly 90 per cent of global household debt. By 2025, their share had fallen to 64 per cent, whilst China’s share alone had jumped from 1.7 per cent to 18.3 per cent of global debt.

The private sector is exercising self-discipline

Against a backdrop of ever-increasing public debt on a global scale, households are demonstrating remarkable financial discipline. Their debt-to-GDP ratio at global level has fallen to around 61 per cent — a decline of nearly 10 percentage points compared with 2005 and around 13 points below the peak reached during the 2009 crisis. This means that whilst the total volume of debt in euro terms is growing in nominal terms, it is growing more slowly than real economic growth.

Household debt levels vary dramatically from country to country. Critical levels are observed in Switzerland (125.1 per cent of GDP), Australia (119.4 per cent), Canada (103.3 per cent), Taiwan (92 per cent) and South Korea (92 per cent). Such exposure makes households in these countries extremely vulnerable to interest rate shocks and property market turmoil.

In terms of gross financial assets per capita, Switzerland leads the world, but due to its enormous debt (an average of €130,080 per person – more than twice the average American’s debt of €52,730), the US ranks first in terms of net financial wealth. 

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