20.3 million Brazilians were classified in June as "risk borrowers" by the Central Bank: people who have fallen behind on payments or who spend a large share of their income servicing debt. The figure is up 75% in five years and represents 17% of all borrowers in the financial system, according to the bank's Financial Stability Report released on Tuesday (27). In practice, nearly one in every five indebted Brazilians is at the limit, or beyond it.
To grasp the scale, 20.3 million people outnumber the combined populations of the cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The Central Bank says the pressure is heaviest on workers earning up to two minimum wages, a group that relies mainly on credit cards and unsecured personal loans, the most expensive credit lines in the country.
What is a "risk borrower"?
The Central Bank uses the concept to group clients with the highest probability of default, usually because costly debt, such as revolving credit card balances, already eats up a large slice of their income. It does not necessarily mean the person is already blacklisted, but it signals little room to take on new commitments. The report, published twice a year, gauges the health of Brazil's financial system.
The data show the problem goes beyond headcount. Problem assets, meaning loans overdue by more than 90 days or showing signs they will not be fully repaid, reached 9.2% of the household credit portfolio in June, the highest level since 2012, after briefly touching a record 9.3%.
Part of the rise comes from a new rule rather than new defaults. Since January 2025, banks decide for themselves when to write off a loan, which keeps overdue debt on their books for longer. The Central Bank estimates that, without the change, delinquency would be 0.78 percentage points lower, but notes it would have risen under the old rules too.
Credit cards remain the main source of trouble: 12.7% of operations showed arrears or risk in June, and unsecured personal loans reach 14.9%, the highest rate among credit lines. The share of household income committed to debt payments, in turn, hit its highest level in 21 years, the bank said.
The report also assessed Crédito do Trabalhador, a payroll-deducted loan program for formal workers created by a 2025 law to make borrowing cheaper. Only 7.6% of the money borrowed was used to swap expensive debt, and delinquency began climbing from the fifth month after disbursement. Of the unpaid balance, 39% (R$ 2.4 billion) belongs to workers who changed jobs.
In response, the Central Bank said it will issue rules still in 2026 to curb unsecured credit, such as raising the capital banks must set aside for credit cards and personal loans and adding friction in apps against impulse borrowing. Last week, the monetary authority had already barred lenders from actively offering credit to clients carrying revolving card balances or with significant arrears.
Even so, the bank says there is "no relevant risk to financial stability": banks have raised loss provisions and hold comfortable capital and liquidity. The report warns, however, that delinquency should stay under pressure in the short term, and banks already signal tighter credit for households in the second half of the year.