Brazil youth lead national delinquency rates amid rising credit use

According to the 2025 Financial Citizenship Report from the Central Bank of Brazil, young people aged 15 to 29 are currently the group with the highest rates of delinquency in the country. While credit access for this demographic has grown 101% since 2016—reaching over 27 million people in 2024—it has also led to significant debt issues.

Of the 17 million young people using credit cards, approximately 13 million (79%) have relied on high-cost options such as revolving credit or installments. This demographic also maintains the smallest emergency reserves and shows a higher proportional investment in high-risk assets like crypto-assets compared to other age groups.

In response to these trends, the 5th Integração Juventude event was held in Goiânia as part of the 16th Brazilian Congress of Credit Cooperativism (Concred). Organized by the Brazilian Confederation of Credit Cooperatives (Confebras) and Sistema OCB/GO, the program brought together approximately 3,000 students, apprentices, and interns to focus on financial education, entrepreneurship, and artificial intelligence to promote more responsible financial planning.