The credit data company CRIF Highmark on March 5, 2024, released a report saying women borrowers's outstanding loans surged to Rs 30.95 Lakh Crore on December 23, rising 19 per cent in one year.
The retail loan portfolio in 2023 witnessed a significant surge, reaching Rs 117.36 Lakh Crore, rising 17 per cent year-on-year growth.
Outstanding portfolio of loans to women grew at faster rate compared to overall borrowing but it remains lower than outstanding loans of men.
While the share of women borrowers in retail loans by value remained stable at around 26 per cent, their active borrower count saw a notable increase.
The report also found the highest year-on-year increase in outstanding loans for women borrowers in Two-Wheeler and Personal Loan, both rising 26 per cent.
In December 2023, 7.83 Crore women borrowers held active loans, up 17.8 per cent from 6.65 Crore in December 2022.
The number of male borrowers with active loans increased to 20.17 Crore, indicating comparatively less 13.1 per cent year-on-year growth.
Among various loan products, Gold Loan was the major part of the portfolio outstanding for women borrowers, at 44 per cent, followed by education loans at 36 per cent, Home Loans at 33 per cent, and property loans at 30 per cent.
Young women borrowers under 35 years old are on the rise, jumping from 41 per cent in 2021 to 45 per cent in 2023, while those aged 36-50 and over 50 years decreased by 2 per cent.
The average ticket size (ATS) of loans given to women borrowers increased across all major retail loan products from CY 2022 to CY 2023 except Personal Loan and Agriculture and Tractor Loan.
The average Ticket Size of personal loans for women borrowers has reduced by 13.3 per cent from CY 2022 to CY 2023 while that for men borrowers has also reduced by 9.5 per cent during the same period.
For women borrowers, Maharashtrian women lead in credit exposure across most loan categories, while Tamil Nadu tops when availing Personal Loan, Gold Loan, and Two-Wheeler Loan.
Overall, women borrowers from southern states have higher credit exposure compared to the rest.
As of Dec’23, Maharashtra is top state with highest credit exposure for women borrowers availing HL, BL, LAP, AL, CC, EL and CD. Tamil Nadu is top state for women borrowers availing PL, GL and TW.
