Gen-Zs in their 20s are fastest-growing group of loan borrowers, spurred by cheap and easy money
Gen-Z and the Millennials have turned into the biggest borrowers of the economy, spurred by the proliferation of smartphone-enabled credit facilities and low interest rates
Generation Z, the section of the population born in the mid-90s, was the fastest-growing segment of borrowers in Hong Kong during the first quarter, according to data by the credit report company TransUnion.
Loans by Gen-Z borrowers, the oldest of whom is 23 this year, soared by 78.5 per cent from last year, according to TransUnion’s data comprising 20 million accounts and 5.4 million customers. Total loans grew 1.9 per cent during the quarter compared with 2017, driven mostly by increases in credit extended to the younger segment of the population.
“The immense growth by the youngest generation in such a short period is likely just the beginning of a transformative shift in the Hong Kong consumer credit market,” said Brendan Le Grange, director of research and consulting for TransUnion Hong Kong.
Gen-Z and their predecessors the Millennials - the generation that came of age around the second millennium, now in their late 30s - have turned into the biggest borrowers of the economy, spurred by the proliferation of smartphone-enabled credit facilities and low interest rates.
Banks, retailer and property developers have had to adjust their products and marketing strategies to appeal to these two segments of the population, which are now occupying the mainstay of consumption of everything from appliances to insurance and real estate.