Consumer Credit Outstanding
Total consumer credit outstanding (the Fed's G.19 release) sums revolving credit (mostly credit cards) and nonrevolving credit (auto and student loans), excluding mortgages. The year-over-year growth rate shows whether households are leaning harder on borrowing to sustain spending.
After inflation: −0.6% (August 2026, CPI-adjusted)
YoY %
- Outstanding ($)
- $5.20T
Next release: Nov 6, 2026
Latest reading
As of August 2026, Consumer Credit (YoY %) stands at 2.7% — up from 2.6% the prior reading, 48.5 pp below the November 1946 record of 51.2%. After inflation, consumer credit outstanding fell 0.6% over the year to August 2026. The latest reading ($5.20T, August 2026) is a record in nominal dollars, but after inflation the record belongs to July 2023: $5.44T in August 2026 dollars, so the latest reading is 4.5% below it. Steady single-digit growth is normal in an expansion. Accelerating revolving (credit-card) balances late in a cycle often signal stretched budgets, while a sharp slowdown or outright contraction (2009, 2020) marks deleveraging and retrenchment. Read credit growth against income and the saving rate — borrowing that consistently outpaces income growth is a late-cycle warning, however strong it looks. Series history runs from 1943 to present.
Sources, methodology & freshnessFederal Reserve G.19 via FRED (TOTALSL), monthly, seasonally adjusted · Monthly, with every releaseData as of 2026-08-01 · Open ↓Close ↑
Full history
Year-over-year %
Credit outstanding ($)
Total US consumer credit outstanding — revolving plus non-revolving, excluding mortgages — in dollars, the debt stock behind the year-over-year growth rate.
Real credit growth
Consumer credit outstanding after CPI inflation, against the same period a year earlier. Below zero, it lost ground to prices.
Deflated by CPI-U (BLS), matched by month; the latest months appear once CPI is published.
Real credit outstanding (August 2026 dollars)
Consumer credit outstanding restated in August 2026 dollars, so every past reading buys the same basket as today.
Deflated by CPI-U (BLS), matched by month; the latest months appear once CPI is published.
Methodology & data
Consumer Credit is sourced from Fed via the Federal Reserve's FRED service (Federal Reserve G.19 via FRED (TOTALSL), monthly, seasonally adjusted). We pull the complete history, chart it on a monthly basis, overlay SPY for context, and generate a dated plain-English reading from the latest release — with no smoothing or adjustment beyond what the chart legend states.
Every reading is stamped with its release date. Latest observation 2026-08-01; site refreshed 2026-10-13. Maintained and reviewed by Yuriy Matso; see our methodology for the standards every series on the site is held to.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Consumer Credit Outstanding?
Total consumer credit outstanding (the Fed's G.19 release) sums revolving credit (mostly credit cards) and nonrevolving credit (auto and student loans), excluding mortgages. The year-over-year growth rate shows whether households are leaning harder on borrowing to sustain spending.
How do you read Consumer Credit?
Steady single-digit growth is normal in an expansion. Accelerating revolving (credit-card) balances late in a cycle often signal stretched budgets, while a sharp slowdown or outright contraction (2009, 2020) marks deleveraging and retrenchment. Read credit growth against income and the saving rate — borrowing that consistently outpaces income growth is a late-cycle warning, however strong it looks.
Where does the Consumer Credit data come from?
Federal Reserve G.19 via FRED (TOTALSL), monthly, seasonally adjusted. We chart the full history and publish a dated, plain-English reading with every release; the raw series is downloadable as CSV at /data/indicators/consumer-credit.csv.
How often is Consumer Credit updated?
Consumer Credit is a monthly series from Fed, refreshed here as soon as a new release posts to FRED.
After inflation: −0.6% (August 2026, CPI-adjusted)
YoY %
- Outstanding ($)
- $5.20T
Next release: Nov 6, 2026