Cash loans up 24% in one year - Citizens increasingly finance basic consumption through borrowing

Serbian citizens are increasingly borrowing through cash loans, which have risen by a quarter in one year and are the main driver of growth in household debt. Although experts warn that citizens are not yet overindebted, the fact that debt is growing almost twice as fast as wages indicates that an increasing share of consumption is being financed with borrowed money.

Serbian citizens are increasingly taking on debt in the form of cash loans. According to the latest data from the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) for May 2026, the total outstanding amount of cash loans reached around RSD 991.5 billion, which is almost a quarter, or 23.7%, higher than a year earlier.

In just one month, citizens' total debt on this basis increased by more than RSD 16 billion. At the same time, banks approved RSD 67.3 billion in new cash loans in May alone. Although this was slightly less than in April, it still represents a very high level of borrowing.

Most importantly, cash loans have long been the main driver of growth in total household debt. Today, almost every second dinar that citizens owe to banks is related to cash loans, while almost two-thirds of all new loans that banks approve to citizens are non-purpose cash loans.

The trend has been particularly pronounced over the past two years. Data show that from May 2024 to May 2026, the outstanding amount of cash loans increased from RSD 688.5 billion to RSD 991.5 billion, an increase of as much as RSD 303 billion, representing growth of around 44%.

This means that, year after year, citizens are increasingly turning to cash loans, which are generally used for consumption, refinancing old debts or covering current expenses, rather than for purchasing real estate or making other investments.

However, according to experts, this is not yet a major cause for concern, as households in Serbia have not entered a state of systemic overindebtedness. The banking sector remains stable, while the number of non-performing loans remains low.

What is concerning is that cash loans are growing almost twice as fast as wages.

While the average net salary in April this year was 11.5% higher than a year earlier, the total outstanding amount of cash loans increased by 22.9% in April.

Simply put, citizens' debt is growing almost twice as fast as their income. This does not yet mean that citizens are overindebted, but it is a warning that an increasing share of consumption is being financed with borrowed money.

If this trend continues, an increasing number of citizens could face difficulties repaying their loan installments. This is precisely why experts warn that the greatest risk at present is not the overall level of household debt, but the fact that growth is increasingly reliant on non-purpose, unsecured cash loans, which are generally riskier than housing loans.

Narodna banka Srbije Beograd

Međunarodni monetarni fond-MMF Beograd

Republički geodetski zavod Beograd

Ekonomski Fakultet Kragujevac

National Bank of Serbia

NBS

IMF

International Monetary Fund

Republic Geodetic Authority

RGZ

Faculty of Economics in Kragujevac

Veroljub Dugalic

cash loans

household borrowing

growth in cash loans