EconomyHouseholds
What are households borrowing, and can they repay?
Banks' loans to individuals grew 16.9% in the year to August 2026. Loans against gold jewellery grew fastest, 83%; loans for consumer durables slowest, 2.4%. 25.2% of the EMIs and other debits presented through NACH in September 2026 were returned unpaid.
Written for anyone who wants to know whether Indian households are borrowing more, and whether they are keeping up. Credit to August 2026.
By kind
Housing loans (47%), other personal loans (25%) and vehicle loans (11%) make up 83% of banks' lending to individuals in August 2026.
Loans to individuals by kind, growth in the year to August 2026
Outstanding bank credit, RBI's sectoral deployment statistics.
How to read it. Gold loans grow with the gold price, because the same jewellery supports a bigger loan; RBI raised the capital banks must hold against unsecured loans in November 2023, and credit card balances and other personal loans have grown more slowly since.
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How fast each grows
Loans to individuals as a whole grew 16.9%, against a median of 16.9% since 2018 (lockdowns left out).
Bank loans to individuals, growth on a year earlier
RBI's published growth, monthly. Each panel has its own scale. Housing is blank from July 2023 to June 2024 (HDFC's merger); other gaps are months whose RBI workbook, as held, prints no growth.
How to read it. Gold loans are reported separately only from December 2021; before that they sat inside other personal loans, which is shown from then on.
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Bounces
NACH carries most of India's automatic debits: EMIs, insurance premiums, SIPs and bills. In September 2026, 25.2% of those presented came back unpaid by number and 17.6% by value, against a median of 24.6% by number since 2013 (lockdown months left out). That is inside its usual range.
NACH debits returned unpaid
Recurring debits returned, as % of those presented, monthly from 2013. Computed from NPCI's counts.
How to read it. Small loans bounce more often than large ones, so the rate by number runs above the rate by value. A rising rate is the warning sign, more than its level.
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The workings
The question
Data
Every chart has a table view, a CSV download and a link to its published JSON. Bundles are listed in data status.