Indian Gen Z Drives 41% of First-Time Borrowing as Debt Outpaces Financial Protection
Updated
Updated · Mint · Sep 4
Indian Gen Z Drives 41% of First-Time Borrowing as Debt Outpaces Financial Protection
3 articles · Updated · Mint · Sep 4
Summary
41% of India’s first-time borrowers are now Gen Z, and the cohort makes up half of new credit-card users, showing how digital lending has rapidly widened formal credit access.
That borrowing boom is increasingly judged by EMI size rather than total risk, leaving many young borrowers with loans but little term life cover, limited health insurance and no meaningful emergency fund.
RBI raised risk weights on unsecured personal loans and credit cards in 2023 and kept them in place even after easing some related norms in 2025, underscoring concern about fast-growing retail credit.
S&P Global Ratings expects Indian household leverage to rise from just over 20% of GDP to about 31% by FY30, increasing the stakes if medical costs, job loss or illness interrupt income.
The broader warning is that credit is expanding faster than protection, making insurance and cash buffers as critical to resilience as the next EMI-funded purchase.