We're getting better at managing money, stats show

Australians are taking out fewer personal loans and suffering fewer bankruptcies, new data has revealed.

There were $5.9 billion of personal finance commitments in August, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

That was the same as the previous quarter but a 4.2 per cent decline on the previous year.

There has been an even sharper decline in insolvencies, according to the Australian Financial Security Authority.

There were 7,400 insolvencies in the September quarter – 9.5 per cent less than the previous quarter and 9.7 per cent less than the September 2017 quarter.

Those 7,400 insolvencies included:

• 3,946 bankruptcies – down 10.3 per cent in quarterly terms and 6.8 per cent in annual terms
• 3,417 part IX debt agreements – down 8.2 per cent in quarterly terms and 6.8 per cent in annual terms
• 37 part X personal insolvency details – down 32.7 per cent in quarterly terms and 49.3 per cent in annual terms

Meanwhile, personal loan interest rates have barely changed during the past year, according to an analysis of all the personal loans listed on RateCity.

The average interest rate for all those loans, at the end of September, was 12.01 per cent, compared to 12.09 per cent the quarter before and 11.84 per cent the year before.

The average application fee at the end of September was $177.40 – down 0.6 per cent on the previous quarter but up 5.0 per cent on the previous year.

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