Only 21% of loan applications are approved in Russia

In July 2025, the share of loan approvals in Russia decreased to 21.4%, according to data from the National Bureau of Credit Histories (NBKI), reviewed by Izvestia. For car loans and consumer loans, banks approve only every fourth to fifth application, and for mortgages they refuse in almost 60% of cases, despite preferential programs.

Accept the debt: mortgage and car loan arrears have almost doubled in a year

What is the threat to bank customers and the country's economy?

The Bank of Russia explained the tightening of risk policy by the growth of overdue loans on previously issued loans. Borrowers with a high debt burden are more likely to miss payments, so the regulator restricts the issuance of loans in this category and regulates their share in the portfolio of banks.

Vladimir Chernov, analyst at Freedom Finance Global, noted that the increase in delinquencies is due to inflation pressure and increased payments on loans already taken out, which reduces real household incomes.

Earlier, Izvestia reported that in the second quarter of 2025, the overdue debt of Russians on mortgages and car loans almost doubled compared to the same period in 2024. According to Alexey Kiryukhin, a leading analyst at Expert RA, banks are preemptively reducing the volume of loans in order to avoid accumulating future defaults.

Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:

Equity pass: banks rejected almost 80% of Russians' loan applications