Abu Dhabi records decline in heads of households’ bank borrowing, increase in expenditure

A survey shows that the number of Emirati households with outstanding bank loans in Abu Dhabi has decreased from earlier this year, but more than half are still beholden to the banks.

A new survey by the Department of Economic Development shows that about 84 per cent of Emirati respondents owned their homes, and 32.6 per cent of families had children studying in private schools or universities at an average cost of Dh50,000 a year.

The survey also showed that the number of Emirati households with outstanding bank loans in Abu Dhabi has decreased from earlier this year, but more than half are still beholden to the banks.

In the second quarter of this year, 55.8 per cent of heads of households had outstanding bank loans, compared with 58.4 per cent in the first three months, the survey showed.

By far the largest number of loans were for cars, at 62 per cent, followed by 25 per cent for family homes, 7 per cent for weddings and 4 per cent for travel.

Average monthly household spending rose more than 11 per cent to Dh22,960 in May from Dh20,652 in March this year, the state news agency Wam reported.

The survey also showed that almost 40 per cent of the heads of households polled bought a new mobile phone in the second quarter.

The results of the survey were released after the Statistics Centre Abu Dhabi unveiled its annual yearbook, which showed women are marrying later, the workforce is increasing, and buildings are safer.