Hundreds of thousands of us live in debt. The average amount claimed per person is more than 900 thousand crowns
Up to 1.4 million Czechs live on the margins of society, according to a study by the Center for Economic and Market Analysis. A life crisis often results from a series of accumulated reasons – job loss, housing problems, or even debt. Nearly 590 thousand of them are directly in execution proceedings. Experts have long been talking about an epidemic of executions and calling for solutions.
"Almost everyone knows the term execution, but few people associate it with their own contract for a few thousand. We encounter cases where a client signed a loan with an APR in the hundreds of percent and had no idea how much they would ultimately pay. Yet even here, it's often possible to get part of the interest back and significantly reduce the debt,"
lawyer Vladimír Rajf wrote to the editorial office.
Hundreds of thousands of people are affected
The number of those troubled by high debts and who are thus rather outsiders among us is significantly high. During the first half of the year alone, it reached 589,709. The average amount claimed per person was almost 919 thousand crowns.
These so-called invisible people include, for example, single parents, young families, lonely seniors, low-income households, poor students, young adults leaving children's homes, caregivers, or people working in the shadow economy.
"The problems of vulnerable groups accumulate. The invisible reveal systemic weaknesses that cost the state and society billions, loss of human potential, crisis in social services, and growing distrust,"
said ČTK director of CETA Aleš Rod.
Many of them live in socially excluded localities. These are mainly the Ústí, Karlovy Vary and Moravian-Silesian regions. However, there are problems elsewhere too, for example in the Central Bohemian, Olomouc or Liberec regions. Executions do not avoid the capital city either, where the average amount claimed was almost 1.84 million crowns. For comparison: in the Ústí region, which is among the poorest, it was on average "only" 576,308 crowns.
How does enforcement proceed?
People usually learn about a debt from a reminder that they receive by mail or in their data box. If the debtors do not pay the required amount, an enforcement title is issued, such as a judgment or payment order. The bailiff then often blocks the account even before the debtor receives the documents.
The documents typically include a notice of commencement of enforcement and a demand for payment. The debtor then usually has thirty days to pay and must not dispose of assets beyond the scope of ordinary activities.
Debt Often Leads to New Credit
Many of these people then resort to what is colloquially called "fighting fire with fire" by borrowing elsewhere. Most often, these are people between 25 and 44 years old. Non-bank credit is often the purchase of goods in installments, which people don't even perceive as a loan.
Approximately every second debtor has encountered complications with repayment. Most often, these involved loss of income, unexpected expenses, fines and penalties, high interest rates, and foreclosure. Those seeking help most often turn to debt counseling services or to close relatives.
"Clients who come to us for help didn't take out a non-bank loan because they trusted its providers. They reached for it in distress, when the bank refused to lend them money and they needed it immediately. It was never about trust,"
wrote Vladimír Rajf for LP-Life.
Experts Warn
Experts point out in connection with the high number of executions that over-indebtedness represents a fundamental obstacle to employment. Due to wage garnishments to the unseizable minimum, people prefer to work under the table, causing the economy to lose out. It limits the development of regions with the highest number of debtors. The differences between them and other parts of the republic are deepening. Another consequence is the inclination of some outsiders towards political extremism.
Making debt relief accessible as one of the measures to support economic growth was proposed in the previous electoral term by the then National Economic Council of the Government. Experts on social inclusion and representatives of organizations helping people in need recommend taking debt relief into account when paying out the super-benefit. According to them, this would motivate debtors to resolve their executions.
Living costs are by far the biggest problem elsewhere in Europe too. According to the extensive EuroPulse 2026 study, nearly half of people fear they will have to save on heating in winter. More than half would be unable to cover an unexpected expense of one thousand euros, which is approximately 25 thousand crowns.
Sources: author's article, own survey, ČTK, Aktualne.cz
