A significant proportion of respondents chose not to answer this question – far more than any other subject in the study.
According to Doutor Finanças Financial Habits Barometer, conducted in partnership with Universidade Católica, only 53% of participants say they always pay their bills on time. Another 3% admit that they almost always do so, while 1% reveal that they rarely meet deadlines.
However, what stands out most is the high number of people who did not want to answer: 42% avoided commenting on this issue – a figure well above the average number of non-responses to the other questions in the survey.
Among those who did not respond, the income brackets between 1 000€ and 2 500€ per month predominate. However, as these distributions are proportional to the composition of the sample, monthly income does not seem to be a determining factor in the omission of responses.
Bad debt remains at historic lows
It should be noted that avoiding answering the question does not necessarily mean that there is default. In fact, data from Bank of Portugal show that the level of bad debt among individuals remains low. At the end of 2024, the rate was 2.3%, down 0.1 percentage points from the previous quarter.
In March 2025, mortgage defaults stood at 0.3%, while consumer and other loans stood at 2.5% - both historically low figures.
Housing is the main type of credit
The survey also analyzed the types of credit most used by Portuguese people. Mortgage loans come first, with 27% of respondents reporting that they have this type of financing – and it is the only form of credit for 16%.
This is followed by credits cards, used regularly by 17% of participants (6% have only this type of credit). Personal loans represent 10% (9% have one and 1% have several), and car loans account for the same total percentage (10%), being the only loan for 3% of respondents.