South Africans’ appetite for debt has increased even though one-third of the country’s 27-million credit holders are struggling to pay back their loans.

According to data from the National Credit Regulator, there were 15.5-million credit applications between July and September last year. Only 31% of these applications were approved, which is a significant decrease from 2007 when about 60% of loans were approved.

About 6-million people were three or more months behind on their repayments last year, which is three times higher than the number of consumers who were in arrears in 2007.

Lending institutions generally have a low tolerance for risk, says Ans Gerber, the head of data insights at Experian, a credit bureau. They also take into account the ability of consumers to pay back their loans, which is being constrained by high-interest rates and South Africa’s high cost of living.