15,000 borrowers struggling in hardship - latest data

A significant number of New Zealanders are struggling to stay afloat, new Centrix data indicates.

Its October update showed the proportion of "credit-active" consumers who were behind on their payments increased to 10.88 percent, but arrears were still lower than a year earlier.

Mortgage arrears were at 1.19 percent, the lowest since the end of December 2022.

Chief operating officer Monika Lacey said a subset of about 15,000 people were in a state of hardship.

"That's when things are really tough. You're really struggling to meet your obligations."

Personal loan hardship volumes were 32 percent higher than a year earlier and had doubled since 2023. She said 38 percent of hardship was related to mortgages and 34 percent were credit cards.

"It's that population, it's really sticky and it's hard. You've got a lot of people who are doing OK, but then you've got this subset of people who are just struggling."

A total of 81,000 people have payments more than 90 days past due.

"We're coming into the busiest credit period now and obviously retail spending coming into Christmas," she said. "What will all of this look like when we get into February, where you would typically see an increased arrears rate?

"Will it be worse than what it is at the moment?"

Retail energy arrears increased 4.9 percent in September and were 8 percent higher than a year ago, indicating more people were having trouble paying their power bills.

The highest arrears rates were in Wairoa, Kawerau and Opotiki, while the lowest were in Tasman, Nelson and Wellington.

Lacey said some of the areas with high arrears had problems with employment, after big businesses closed, or were affected by weather events.

For businesses, credit demand had increased 7 percent year-on-year, but defaults and company liquidations rose. Construction continued to account for the largest number of liquidations, while hospitality and retail trade had recorded particularly large annual increases.

Lacey said the increase in liquidations could be a processing blip.

"One month doesn't make a trend, but generally, the credit defaults are increasing, some of the scores are starting to drop a bit. A business is so linked to the consumer confidence profile.

"If people don't feel confident and they don't have that surplus cash in their pockets - which people don't so much currently - then they're not going to go out there, and necessarily buy those clothes or go to the restaurant or do those renovations.

"It's just a bit of the cycle that occurs."

Company liquidations reached 3173 during the rolling 12 months to September, up 18 percent year-on-year. During the same period, new company registrations increased 4 percent to 61,650 and company closures rose 3 percent to approximately 52,000.

There were 314 company insolvencies during September, compared with 281 in September 2025. Of these, 296 companies were placed into liquidation, compared with 258 a year earlier.

There were 790 construction firms liquidated during the past 12 months, up 9 percent year-on-year and representing about 0.9 percent of registered construction companies.

Hospitality recorded 431 liquidations during the past year, up 41 percent, while retail trade liquidations increased 53 percent to 253.

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