Buy Now Pay Later Lending Volume
A year's pay-in-four lending by six large providers
What was the last verified Buy Now Pay Later Lending Volume reading?
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reported that Affirm, Cash App Afterpay, Klarna, PayPal, Sezzle and Zip made $43.9 billion in pay-in-four loans in 2023, up from $33.4 billion in 2022, in dollars not adjusted for inflation. It is a year's lending by six large firms, not a balance owed and not the whole market. Source: CFPB, The Buy Now, Pay Later Market (December 2025).
What it means for households: Consumer Debt Statistics Behind on payments? Your Rights with Debt Collectors
How the Buy Now Pay Later Lending Volume has moved since 2019
Pay-in-four lending by six large BNPL firms, 2023: $43.9 billion
Buy Now Pay Later Lending Volume: $43.9 billion in 2023. Annual, 2019–2023.
What the Buy Now Pay Later Lending Volume measures
Measurement basis: How much money six large buy now, pay later lenders — Affirm, Cash App Afterpay, Klarna, PayPal, Sezzle and Zip — lent out over a calendar year, in that year's own dollars, as reported by the CFPB for 2019 through 2023. It counts pay-in-four loans only: point-of-sale installment loans and credit card installment plans are not in it. It is a flow, the lending done during the year, not a balance anyone owes at a moment in time. The CFPB puts these six firms at roughly forty percent of the overall point-of-sale financing market in 2023 and says its sample is not necessarily representative of the whole buy now, pay later market, so this is a large slice of the market and not the market.
Buy Now Pay Later Lending Volume by year, 2019 to 2023
| Year | Amount | Change from a year earlier |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | $43.9B | +$10.5B |
| 2022 | $33.4B | +$7.9B |
| 2021 | $25.5B | +$16.6B |
| 2020 | $8.9B | +$6.7B |
| 2019 | $2.2B | — |
Annual · Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Buy Now, Pay Later Market Report
Counties with the highest safety net and buffer scores
There's no county figure for this measure, so this list uses the safety net and buffer part of our County Distress Index.
| Rank | County | Score (0–100) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Choctaw County, OK | 94.8 |
| 2 | Stewart County, GA | 94.2 |
| 3 | Noxubee County, MS | 94.2 |
| 4 | Hudspeth County, TX | 94 |
| 5 | Brooks County, TX | 94 |
| 6 | Lake County, TN | 94 |
| 7 | Duval County, TX | 93.9 |
| 8 | Ripley County, MO | 93.5 |
| 9 | Dunklin County, MO | 93.3 |
| 10 | Quitman County, GA | 93.2 |
Questions about the Buy Now Pay Later Lending Volume
How large is the buy now, pay later market?
There is no official total for the whole market. The CFPB's figures cover six large lenders, which made $43.9 billion in pay-in-four loans in 2023. The CFPB says that sample does not necessarily represent the entire market.
Is this how much people owe on BNPL loans?
No. It is the value of loans made over a year. Because pay-in-four loans are repaid in about six weeks, the amount owed at any moment is far smaller than a year's lending.
Where does the BNPL data come from?
The CFPB's report The Buy Now, Pay Later Market (December 2025), Appendix Table 5, which gives the dollars of pay-in-four loans the six firms made each calendar year from 2019 through 2023. The firms reported the totals to the CFPB. The report's main tables show the same figures adjusted to 2024 dollars.
Sources and method for the Buy Now Pay Later Lending Volume
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Buy Now, Pay Later Market Report Measurement basis: How much money six large buy now, pay later lenders — Affirm, Cash App Afterpay, Klarna, PayPal, Sezzle and Zip — lent out over a calendar year, in that year's own dollars, as reported by the CFPB for 2019 through 2023. It counts pay-in-four loans only: point-of-sale installment loans and credit card installment plans are not in it. It is a flow, the lending done during the year, not a balance anyone owes at a moment in time. The CFPB puts these six firms at roughly forty percent of the overall point-of-sale financing market in 2023 and says its sample is not necessarily representative of the whole buy now, pay later market, so this is a large slice of the market and not the market. We use the annual figures as published, from 2019 through 2023, with no adjustment of our own. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s report
We write with assistance from AI tools. Figures come from the data and sources named on this page.