Dirty name affects more than 50% of the adult population of the DF and 4 states

Five federation units have more than half of their adult population with a “dirty name”: Rio de Janeiro, Amapá, Amazonas, Distrito Federal and Mato Grosso. Serasa’s numbers refer to the end of the first semester and do not reflect the start of the Desenrola program, for renegotiating debts, launched on July 17th by the federal government.

In Brazil, there were 71.45 million defaulters last month, which corresponds to 43.78% of the adult population. More than two-thirds of defaulters are aged between 26 and 60; 50.3% are women. Debts with banks, credit card, retail and routine bills, such as water, electricity and gas are the main responsible for leaving the consumer with the “dirty name”.

The leadership of Rio de Janeiro coincides with the economic situation experienced by the state. Despite still being the second largest economy in the country, it is seeing closer, in the rearview mirror, the third place: Minas Gerais. The economy of Rio de Janeiro grew at a rate of 0.71% per year between 2002 and 2020, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). In Brazil, the average annual GDP expansion was 1.97% per year.

Although there are no more recent figures on the state’s GDP, another indicator suggests the state’s difficulty in generating job opportunities: in the first quarter of the year, Rio had the seventh highest unemployment rate in the country (11.6%).

Commerce in Rio de Janeiro is the main sector to feel the problems related to default. In the 12 months ended in May, sales in the expanded retail trade (which includes cars and construction material) fell by 2.5%. In the country, the numbers were close to stability, with a positive variation of 0.2%.

At the other extreme, six states have less than 40% of the adult population with the “dirty name”: Piauí (36.18%), Santa Catarina (37.14%), Maranhão (38.82%), Rio Grande do Sul (39.22%), Paraíba (39.29%) and Minas Gerais (38.82%).

An encouraging sign with a drop in the number of people with “dirty names”

A sign of encouragement in Brazil, according to Serasa, came in June, with the first drop in the number of defaulters of the year. The retraction was 0.63% in relation to May. Total debts also fell: 262.8 million or 0.62%.

The expectation is for a new drop this month because of the debt renegotiation program. “It will depend on the number of negative people this month”, says Matheus Moura, director of Serasa.

On the other hand, the average amount owed per person increased to R$ 4,846.15. The increase was 0.78% in the month. The average value of each debt, meanwhile, rose 0.77%, to R$ 1,317.60. In this scenario, the total debt of negatives reached R$ 346.3 billion, 0.15% more than in May.

The first numbers after the launch of Desenrola are favorable. According to the credit bureau, in the first week of the program, more than one million negotiations related to debts with banks and other segments were carried out. It is a growth of 61% compared to a similar period in June. “There is a sign of people renegotiating their financial issues and seeking a return to the credit market”, highlights Moura.

defaulters in Brazil

% of defaulters in the adult population, according to Serasa: