Inflation and higher interest rates brought financial distress to a proportion of households

Abstract

A majority of Finnish households had some financial margin to allow them to adjust to the strong rise in consumer prices and interest rates between 2019 and 2023. Nevertheless, for a growing proportion of low-income households, what is generally considered a decent standard of living was no longer attainable. Due to the higher interest rates, the number of households that considered themselves over-indebted also increased among middle- and high-income households.