The vast majority of people applying for car loans in Russia are men and women between the ages of 36 and 49. At least, these are the statistics shared eCredit platform, based on our own analytics.
Image source: ChatGPT.
Research shows that the average age of Russian car borrowers has increased significantly over the past five years: 46.7% of men and 48.4% of women in the above-mentioned 36-49 age group have applied for a car loan. Additionally, 16.6% of men and 15% of women applied for car loans between the ages of 50 and 59, and 7.3% of men and 5.7% of women applied for car loans in the age group above 60 years.
Of course, the share of young people in these statistics has not collapsed over the past five years, but has declined significantly. As a result, 22.1% of men and 22.9% of women in the 26-35 age group registered for a car loan. This compares with 31.5% and 33.5% respectively in 2021. The proportions of the very young driver category (18-25 years old) have not changed over five years: they constituted only 7.3% of boys and 8% of girls respectively, and remain so.
There are several reasons for this. First, young people prefer to live in big cities, where there is almost no need for private cars. Secondly, by the age of 26-35, most people are not yet able to meet basic material needs, and cars are far from becoming essential possessions. Third, modern young people are more aware of the value of money and are not ready to drown any capital in rapidly depreciating assets. Finally, the fourth reason is the basis for the second and third reasons, cars in Russia are increasingly changing from transportation to luxury goods due to the country’s tax and tariff policies. But people’s real incomes still haven’t grown at this rate.
In general, it should be noted that the cult of cars in Russia still remains, mainly due to the presence of many villas, reaching them by public transport is still a task with an asterisk.
