Key household debt ratio creeps higher in second quarter to 169.1 per cent

OTTAWA — Statistics Canada says the amount households owe, measured as a proportion of their income, rose in the second quarter.

The agency says credit market debt as a proportion of household disposable income increased to 169.1 per cent as growth in debt outpaced income.

In other words, Canadians owed $1.69 in credit market debt for every dollar of household disposable income.

The ratio was up from 168.3 per cent in the first quarter, however it was down from 169.7 per cent in the second quarter last year.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, households borrowed $19.6 billion in the quarter, down from $22.2 billion in the previous quarter.

On an unadjusted basis, household credit market debt, which includes consumer credit, and mortgage and non-mortgage loans, totalled $2.16 trillion.

The Canadian Press