Student debt rises to 29 billion euros

The total student debt in the Netherlands has now reached 29 billion euros, according to Statistics Netherlands. Yet, the reintroduction of the basic grant seems to already be having some effect.

The total student debt has risen by another billion compared to last year, as reported by Statistics Netherlands (CBS). Debts have surged rapidly since 2015, when the basic grant was abolished.

In particular, the debt of those aged between 25 and 30 has increased. On average, their debt now stands at 24,600 euros, about 5,000 euros more than in 2021. “People in this age group hardly benefitted from the basic grant and could only rely on loans”, CBS notes. “They’ve also had little time to start repaying.”

However, the basic grant has returned, and its impact is already visible. Young people between the ages of 20 and 25 owe an average of 13,100 euros to DUO, whereas last year it was 13,900 euros. This is the first time since 2016 that this amount has dropped.

There are also slightly fewer people with student debt: there are still more than 1.6 million, but compared to last year, the number has fallen by almost 13,000. CBS explains that fewer students have taken out loans.

Up to 10,000 euros

Around half of all borrowers owe less than 10,000 euros, while there are 138,000 people with debts exceeding 50,000 euros. It’s worth noting that these figures reflect current student debts, including those close to paying off their loans, many of whom have little debt left after around fifteen years.