The default rate among micro, small and medium-sized companies reached 6% in March 2026, the highest level since February 2018, the Central Bank reported this Monday (27). In the highest risk balances of smaller companies, the rate reaches 9.8%, the highest since this monitoring was carried out in January last year.
For comparison, among large companies, late payments for more than 90 days reach 0.6%.
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Other numbers that illustrate the difficult moment for credit for small and medium-sized companies are those that detail the default of legal entities by type. Overdraft delays – a line widely used by small entrepreneurs – returned to around 20%, after two months below that.
Defaults on working capital lines under the revolving ceiling reached 8.6%, the highest since October, while credit card arrears fell to a rate of 7.5%, after a 2-month increase.
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The credit balance for companies in the Financial System reached R$2.692 trillion in March, with R$1.226 trillion for MSMEs (companies with annual gross revenue up to R$300 million or total assets up to R$240 million) and R$1.466 trillion for large companies (annual revenue above R$300 million or total assets above R$240 million).
