Equifax® (NYSE: EFX) has released its 2024 Global Consumer Credit Trends, a report that features global consumer credit data and trends information from 10 different countries including Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Spain and the United States. The third annual report, made possible by the Equifax Cloud™ and the company's custom data fabric, is designed to give lenders around the world a deeper view into overall consumer credit demand, debt, delinquencies, credit card utilization rates and inflation trends in their particular region to make more informed decisions and innovate faster – enabling more mainstream financial opportunities for consumers.

"Unique, differentiated data and analytics continues to be at the heart of our business," said Patricio Remon, President of Equifax International. "Our Global Consumer Credit Trends report continues to be unique in the breadth of insights that it provides. This extensive look at consumer credit data and inflation trends from 10 different countries is enabled by Equifax Cloud and our custom data fabric, to help our customers across the globe create more effective insights and innovate faster."

The Equifax Cloud™ is a top-tier global technology and security infrastructure backed by a more than $1.5 billion multi-year investment that gives the organization the ability to develop solutions that are faster, more reliable, more powerful, and more secure than ever before. Central to the Equifax Cloud is its custom data fabric, an adaptable data platform that unifies the enterprise's data (from over 100 siloed data sources) in a single, virtual structure, enabling critical data governance measures, including data segregation, and maintaining compliance with regulatory requirements.

The 2024 report indicates that overall recovery from long periods of high inflation could be slow, with notable differences among populations and geographies. Specific inflation trends for Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, India, New Zealand, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States are also included, with most regions continuing to loosen their monetary policies to help consumers cope with tougher economic headwinds.

For example:

• Australia experienced its first reduction in cash rate in four years, prompted by their Consumer Price Index reaching its target rate for consecutive quarters.
• Mortgage lending in India increased by 7% year-over-year due to rising urbanization and better affordability, while non mortgage debt increased by 45% due to strong economic growth.
• In Spain, the Spanish economy ended 2024 as one of the healthiest in the Euro area. Specifically, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 0.8% quarter-over-quarter, and 3.2% year-over-year, with the European Central Bank reducing interest rates further in Dec 2024.

Equifax data further indicated that consumer credit demand mostly remained steady globally, even as economic pressures continued to push consumers towards unsecured credit, while the mortgage market returns in a controlled manner.

• In Canada, the overall mortgage market showed signs of recovery, with new mortgage originations rising 39% year-over-year.
• Demand in Argentina continued on a positive trajectory, which had been observed since the start of 2024, in particular, with an upward trend towards the end of the year.
• In Brazil, credit demand remained stable in the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to the previous quarter.

As consumer credit markets continue to evolve around the world, understanding consumer credit behavior and inflation trends is critical. Equifax offers consumer credit perspectives from various regions, including monthly National Consumer Credit Insights in the U.S. as well as quarterly consumer and commercial insights in Australia and Canada. The U.K. also produces its annual Financial Health Report, which provides a comprehensive overview of the nation's financial wellbeing.

The complete Equifax 2024 Global Consumer Credit Trends Report can be found here.