Almost half of applications for loans come from foreigners

According to the largest Swiss online comparing service, Comparis, just under half of all applications for loans come from foreigners, and, for the most part, to buy cars.

Analysts at the company report that demand for credit is particularly high in eastern and northern Switzerland and that, in seven cantons, more than half of the applications for loans come from foreigners. Further statistics showed that, whereas 26 per cent of foreign households made use of loans, just 6 per cent of the Swiss ones did.

Of the foreigners applying for loans, there was particular interest from French and Portuguese nationals, with one in two applicants from these countries wanting the funds to purchase a car, whereas with Kosovans, Germans and Italians, one in three of nationals of these countries wanted a loan for a car, the average amount of loan requested from nationals of these five countries being CHF 24,000.