BERLIN, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Unemployment is by far the most common reason for German households to fall into excessive debt, official figure by the Federal Statistical Office showed on Wednesday.
According to the Wiesbaden-based government statisticians, 21 percent of Germans who sought help from national debt advisory centers in 2017 indicated that unemployment was the primary cause of their predicament. A further 7 percent attributed the build-up of excessive debt to having experienced unsatisfactory income situation (defined officially as earning a low wage for a lengthy period of time, note).
"As a consequence, taken together, more than every fourth excessive debt situation can be traced to a loss of or insufficient income generated by work," a statement by the Federal Statistical Office read.
In 15 percent of the cases, private household fell into unsustainable debt due to health problems and related financial difficulties, while 13 percent cited the separation from or death of a partner as having led them to access the services of a debt advisory center. Additionally, inappropriate consumption habits (12 percent) and failed self-employment (8 percent) were also cited as sources of excessive debt in Germany.
The findings were based on data provided to the Federal Statistical Office by 528 out of a total of 1,400 German debt advisory centers. In total, these agencies offered assistance to around 127,000 individuals in 2017.
Nevertheless, official figures indicate that private household insolvency is a declining phenomenon in Germany as a whole. 72,000 incidents of private insolvency were registered in 2017, marking a 6.9 percent decline compared to the previous year.