dendettement

Dendettement, or indebtedness, is the level and composition of debt held by key economic agents—households, non-financial corporations, and governments. It is a stock variable that interacts with income, output, and interest rates, and it can be measured as gross debt or net debt after asset offset.

Common indicators include household debt-to-income, private debt-to-GDP, and public debt-to-GDP, as well as debt service ratios and loan-to-value ratios. Cross-country comparisons require attention to currency, maturity, and the role of shadow banking.

Drivers include low interest rates, credit expansion, housing booms, and periods of fiscal stimulus, as well as shocks that reduce income or asset values. Rising dendettement can support demand in the short term but heighten default risk, financial fragility, and constraints on future growth.

Policy approaches aim to manage risk and sustain growth, using macroprudential measures (credit ceilings, LTV/DTI limits), prudent supervision, and fiscal rules. In crises, deleveraging must be balanced with stabilization, to avoid a procyclical collapse in spending.

Limitations include measurement challenges, data gaps, and differences in debt quality. Dendettement is dynamic, influenced by asset performance, income, interest rates, and policy choices, and is routinely monitored by central banks, regulators, and researchers.