Credit access to women has doubled in the last five years. The loan penetration among women borrowers has shot up to 14% in 2022 from 7% in 2017. Credit access is the ratio of women borrowers to the total adult population.
According to a report by TransUnion (TU) Cibil, women borrowers in India have increased at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15% over the last five years compared to 11% for male borrowers. The share of women borrowers has increased to 28% in 2022 from 25% in 2017.
There are many reasons for the higher growth rate for women. Many lenders have been offering better rates for women borrowers. Second, women borrowers have a better credit profile compared to men. In 2022, the report said that 57% of women borrowers had prime credit scores (731-770) compared to 51% of male borrowers.
Insights also indicate that the number of women seeking business loans has more than tripled in the last five years (2017 to 2022), which reflects the growth of women-led startups in India. During this period, the share of women in the overall business loan portfolio has increased by 12 percentage points (32% in 2022 versus 20% in 2017). An increase in the share of women borrowers is also observed in the home loan segment, growing by 6 percentage points in the last five years.
Among the top 12 states by total credit active borrowers,West Bengal(22%),Rajasthan(21%) and Bihar (21%) have seen the highest growth in women borrowers between 2017 and 2022.