US commercial bank loans jump by $1trn in five months to reach $14.8trn

American debt levels continue rising year after year, with a surge in the number of people using loans to pay anything from home renovation and medical expenses to vacations, scholarship, and credit card debts.

However, with thousands of troubled businesses across the country losing revenue amid COVID-19 outbreak and searching for loan programmes, the constantly growing debt levels in the United States became an even greater problem.

According to data gathered by AksjeBloggen, the combined value of loans granted by all commercial banks in the United States increased by $1 trillion since the beginning of 2020, reaching $14.8 trillion in May.

Loan value increased bu almost 50% in six years

In 2014, the total value of credits of all commercial banks in the United States amounted to over $10 trillion, revealed Statista and  Federal Reserve Economic Data. By the end of the first quarter of 2017, this
figure jumped to $12.1 trn, growing around $800 billion per year. The increasing trend continued in the following years, with the combined amount of commercial bank loans in the United States reaching $13.8
trillon in December 2019.

However, 2020 triggered the most significant increase in the total loan value in years. In just three months, between February and May, this figure jumped from $13.9 trillion to $14.8 trillipn. Statistics indicate
the total value of US commercial bank loans increased by 48% in the last six years.

New $729bn worth commercial and industrial loan in 2020

Analyzed by category, the statistics show commercial and industrial loans have witnessed the most significant increase in the last couple of months, with the combined value of all granted loans growing by almost $729 billion since the beginning of the year, and reaching $3.08  trillion in May.

The Federal Reserve data revealed Americans have more than $4.6 trillion in real estate loans as of May, a $54.7 billion increase in the last five months.

However, the coronavirus outbreak caused a plunge in consumer loans in the United States, falling by $73.7 billion since January and reaching a  total of $1.52 trillion in May. Statistics show that credit cards and other revolving plans have witnessed the most significant drop among all consumer loans. In May, Americans had around $773 billion in credit card debt, or $73 billion less compared to January figures.