Credit reporting agency Centrix released its June Credit Indicator today. It showed household arrears were levelling out while hardship and company liquidations were on the rise.

“There are signs our economy is beginning to head in the right direction,” Centrix managing director Keith McLaughlin said.

“Albeit with a few bumps along the way. Businesses, particularly in construction, property and hospitality, continue to face significant challenges.”

Nearly 15,000 individual bill payers were in financial hardship, an increase of 300 from May, and 14% more than a year ago, Centrix said.

The report said 21,900 households were overdue on mortgage payments in May, 700 fewer than April.

Almost half of those cases, 46%, were due to difficulties paying mortgages, a jump of 19% from last year. Another 28% of hardship cases were due to credit card debt, and another 18% related to personal loan repayments.

“The age group most affected by financial hardship is those between 35 and 49 years old,” Centrix said.

Buy now, pay later arrears rose to 9%, up slightly on last year. Energy bills arrears are 5% higher than last year, and phone bill arrears were unchanged.

On the other hand, the proportion of the “credit-active population” in arrears is a percentage point lower than last year.

Centrix said that the slight yearly decrease was “reflecting ongoing year-over-year improvement”.

The number of people behind on their bills in May was 485,000, an increase of 2000 from April.

Of those, 180,000 are more than 30 days past the due date, and 81,000 are more than 90 days overdue.

Overall, 12.51% of the credit-active population is in arrears, compared with 12.43% in April.