Russia sees sharp drop in consumer lending to six-year low

In 2025, Russian banks signed 27.5 million loan agreements with individuals worth 9.89 trillion rubles (around $126.0 billion), marking the lowest lending volume in six years, according to statistics from consulting firm Frank RG.

Compared to 2024, the total volume of issued loans fell 25.6%, reaching a six-year low—comparable to 2019, when lending totalled 9.2 trillion rubles (around $117.3 billion), Caliber.Az reports via Russian media.

In terms of the number of agreements, lending fell 1.8 times year-on-year, marking the lowest level since the pandemic year of 2020.

Declines were observed across all loan segments in both value and volume. Except for auto loans, all product categories have seen a second consecutive year of contraction.

In 2025, cash loans dropped sharply, with banks issuing 3.5 trillion rubles (approximately $44.6 billion), nearly 39% lower than the previous year—the weakest performance in nine years. The number of unsecured loans fell 38%, to 19.6 million agreements from 31.7 million in 2024, comparable to 2021 levels. Meanwhile, the average unsecured loan amount rose 32%, reaching 191,000 rubles (around $2,435) in December.

Mortgage lending fell 9%, to 4.3 trillion rubles (approximately $54.8 billion), despite an early-year slump exceeding 50% year-on-year. Recovery began in June as the key interest rate declined, with monthly sales of housing loans increasing. Over the year, Russians signed 902,200 mortgage agreements, down 18% from 2024.

The auto loan market shrank roughly 25% in both value and number of agreements, with total loans reaching 1.71 trillion rubles (around $21.8 billion) across 1.2 million contracts. However, 2024 remained the sector’s peak year historically.

POS loans for goods purchases also plummeted. Banks issued 5.8 million POS loans totalling 277.6 billion rubles (around $3.54 billion), down 36% in value and 61% in number compared to 2024. The segment hit historic lows for both volume and number of agreements since tracking began in 2014.

By Jeyhun Aghazada