As Canada’s economy begins to slow, the country’s growing household debt burden is raising new concerns as it outpaces that of most developed countries.
In fact, Canada had the second-biggest jump in household debt-to-income ratios of any country other than Greece between 2007 and the second quarter of 2014, a new study says.
Canada and Australia along with a number of countries in northern Europe “now have larger household debt burdens than existed in the U.S. or the U.K. at the peak of the credit bubble,” according to a new analysis.
The McKinsey Global Institute looked at 47 countries and identified seven with “potential vulnerabilities” in household debt that could lead to financial instability and a consumer spending slowdown: the Netherlands, South Korea, Sweden, Australia, Malaysia, Thailand – and Canada.
The study, to be released Thursday, comes amid mounting evidence of a sputtering economy. The country’s GDP shrank in November, and last year’s job growth has been revised lower while oil prices have slumped, restraining business development.
The report was based on data to the second quarter of last year.
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