The UK's average credit card debt per household grew by *** British pounds between December 2021 and December 2022, the first increase since 2020. Standing at ***** British pounds at December 2022, the figure contrasts with the decline in 2020 – when the debt declined from ***** British pounds to ***** British pounds. That particular drop was likely a result of Covid-19's economic impact, and consumers trying to get rid of their credit card debt. The increase in 2022 may be caused by growing interest rates and the cost of living crisis beginning to take shape.

The average credit card purchase value in the United Kingdom was over ***British pounds as of August 2025. This was slightly lower than in the same month of the previous year and lower than in January 2023, when it reached an all-time high, with each individual credit card transaction averaging **** British pounds. This contrasted with April 2020, when coronavirus measures caused the average credit card value to decline. However, the total credit card debt in the UK in June 2025 grew almost six percent year-on-year.

Clients seeking financial advice from the debt charity StepChange in the United Kingdom had on average approximately ***** British pounds of unsecured credit card debt in 2022. On average, the new clients of this charity owed more unsecured debt from personal loans than from any other type of credit.

Daily, weekly and monthly data showing seasonally adjusted and non-seasonally adjusted UK spending using debit and credit cards. These are official statistics in development. Source: CHAPS, Bank of England.

Debt collection agencies have operated in a high-demand but compliance-heavy environment in recent years. Surging energy and credit arrears, persistent business insolvencies and tighter conduct rules have defined the market. The Insolvency Service reported that 23,872 companies became insolvent in 2024, while Ofgem stated that domestic energy arrears reached £3.9 billion in the same year, both fuelling the flow of unpaid accounts to collection agencies. These trends have supported workloads across the business, consumer and utility markets, but recovery rates have slowed thanks to mounting regulatory pressures – collectors must now prioritise fair treatment and affordability checks under the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Consumer Duty. Still, over the five years through 2025-26, revenue is projected to climb at a compound annual rate of 2.4% to reach £2 billion, including a forecast rise 0.9%of in 2025-26. Profit has also inched up thanks to falling energy prices and automation reducing running costs, though increases in wages, business rates and compliance spending have limited margin growth. Digitalisation has become essential to maintaining profitability and meeting regulatory standards. Agencies are integrating open banking and Pay by Bank tools that enable real-time income verification and instant repayments. Open Banking Ltd reported 130 million open banking payments in 2023, almost double the prior year, highlighting how this technology is transforming collection processes. These innovations directly affect the industry’s operating model by cutting card fees, reducing failed payments and evidencing fair outcomes for regulators. Large debt collection companies such as Lowell, Cabot Credit Management and Arrow Global have restructured debt and consolidated systems to fund automation projects and remain competitive. Their actions reflect a broader industry shift towards scale and efficiency, where compliance capability and digital capacity determine an agencies’ competitiveness. Looking ahead, easing inflation and steadier employment are expected to improve repayment capacity in the coming years, supporting gradual revenue gains. Over the five years through 2030-31, revenue is slated to mount at a compound annual rate of 2.5% to reach £2.3 billion. However, rising regulatory scrutiny and possible government oversight of enforcement practices may necessitate heavier investment in governance and data protection. These measures will raise costs but enhance consumer trust and contract stability, favouring agencies that can combine compliance assurance with automation. Companies that leverage technology to balance empathy with efficiency will be best placed to grow in a maturing, tightly regulated market.

Underlying data from annex B for the report that uses data from the YouGov DebtTrack surveys to update trend information about credit use and the extent of consumer indebtedness in Britain. The analysis suggests a continued decrease in the proportion of households using unsecured credit, but little change in the average amount of unsecured debt among credit users. The data also indicated a decline in the incidence of financial difficulty.

In the 4th quarter of 2024, the debt of households in the United Kingdom amounted to ***** percent of their income. This indicator shows the average level of indebtedness of the general population and their ability to repay their debts. The total value of household debt (total liabilities and loans to households) has increased annually since 2000. Debt to income ratio increased during the pandemic As we have seen here, households have been decreasing their indebtedness levels in the past years. However, the volume of new consumer lending actually soared between 2022 and 2024. Meanwhile, the growth rate of mortgages in the UK has remained lower these past years, but it has also shown an increase on amount of lending.

Indebtedness in Europe The household debt of many countries in Europe as a share of their disposable income in 2024 was over 100 percent. That was mostly the case for Northern and Western European countries, such as Norway, the Netherlands, and Denmark. Germany and Austria were some of the largest exceptions, as they were among the few countries in that part of Europe with households' debt representing less than ** percent of their income.

Underlying data from annex B for the report that uses data from the YouGov DebtTrack surveys to update trend information about credit use and the extent of consumer indebtedness in Britain. The analysis suggests a continued decrease in the proportion of households using unsecured credit, but little change in the average amount of unsecured debt among credit users. The data also indicated a decline in the incidence of financial difficulty.

(Banking And Systemic Crises)

prepared by (Mohamed Abd Al-mgyd)

https://github.com/1145267383/Systemic-And-Banking-Crises

• Web APP > https://crises.herokuapp.com/

Dataset

A)20160923_global_crisis_data:

https://www.hbs.edu/behavioral-finance-and-financial-stability/data/Pages/global.aspx

This data was collected over many years by Carmen Reinhart (with her coauthors Ken Rogoff, Christoph Trebesch, and Vincent Reinhart). This data contains the banking crises of 70 countries, from 1800 AD to 2016 AD, with a total of 15,190 records and 16 variables. But the data stabilized after cleaning and adjusting to 8642 records and 17 variables.

B)Label_Country: This data contains a description of the country whether it's Developing or Developed .

Variable: Description:

1-Case: ID Number for Country.

2-Cc3: ID String for Country.

3-Country : Name Country.

4-Year: The date from 1800 to 2016.

5-Banking_Crisis: Banking problems can often be traced to a decrease the value of banks' assets.

A) due to a collapse in real estate prices or When the bank asset values decrease substantially . B) if a government stops paying its obligations, this can trigger a sharp decline in value of bonds.

6-Systemic_Crisis : when many banks in a country are in serious solvency or liquidity problems at the same time—either:

A) because there are all hits by the same outside shock. B) or because failure in one bank or a group of banks spreads to other banks in the system.

7-Gold_Standard: The Country have crisis in Gold Standard.

8-Exch_Usd: Exch local currency in USD, Except exch USD currency in GBP.

9-Domestic_Debt_In_Default: The Country have domestic debt in default.

10-Sovereign_External_Debt_1: Default and Restructurings, -Does not include defaults on WWI debt to United States and United Kingdom and post-1975 defaults on Official External Creditors.

11-Sovereign_External_Debt_2: Default and Restructurings, -Does not include defaults on WWI debt to United States and United Kingdom but includes post-1975 defaults on Official External Creditors.

12-Gdp_Weighted_Default:GDP Weighted Default for country.

13-Inflation: Annual percentages of average consumer prices.

14-Independence: Independence for country.

15-Currency_Crises: The Country have crisis in Currency.

16-Inflation_Crises: The Country have crisis in Inflation.

17-Level_Country: The description of the country whether it's Developing or Developed.

This statistic displays the average amount owed in credit or store card debt in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2017, by age group. Adults aged between 45 and 54 years of age had the highest amount of debt in credit/store cards, with an average of nearly *** thousand British pounds. Those aged over 75 years had the lowest average debt in credit/store cards, with an average of ** British pounds in 2017.

The Family Resources Survey (FRS) has been running continuously since 1992 to meet the information needs of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). It is almost wholly funded by DWP.

The FRS collects information from a large, and representative sample of private households in the United Kingdom (prior to 2002, it covered Great Britain only). The interview year runs from April to March.

The focus of the survey is on income, and how much comes from the many possible sources (such as employee earnings, self-employed earnings or profits from businesses, and dividends; individual pensions; state benefits, including Universal Credit and the State Pension; and other sources such as savings and investments). Specific items of expenditure, such as rent or mortgage, Council Tax and water bills, are also covered.

Many other topics are covered and the dataset has a very wide range of personal characteristics, at the adult or child, family and then household levels. These include education, caring, childcare and disability. The dataset also captures material deprivation, household food security and (new for 2021/22) household food bank usage.

The FRS is a national statistic whose results are published on the gov.uk website. It is also possible to create your own tables from FRS data, using DWP’s Stat Xplore tool. Further information can be found on the gov.uk Family Resources Survey webpage.

Secure Access FRS data
In addition to the standard End User Licence (EUL) version, Secure Access datasets, containing unrounded data and additional variables, are also available for FRS from 2005/06 onwards - see SN 9256. Prospective users of the Secure Access version of the FRS will need to fulfil additional requirements beyond those associated with the EUL datasets. Full details of the application requirements are available from http://ukdataservice.ac.uk/media/178323/secure_frs_application_guidance.pdf" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Guidance on applying for the Family Resources Survey: Secure Access.

FRS, HBAI and PI
The FRS underpins the related Households Below Average Income (HBAI) dataset, which focuses on poverty in the UK, and the related Pensioners' Incomes (PI) dataset. The EUL versions of HBAI and PI are held under SNs 5828 and 8503, respectively. The Secure Access versions are held under SN 7196 and 9257 (see above).

FRS 2023-24

Alongside the usual topics covered, the 2023-2024 FRS includes new variables on veterans (ex-armed forces, former regulars and reserves); care leavers (where young adults were previously living in care, during their teenage years); and, for the self-employed, length of time in that occupation. For doctors, we add clarifying variables for NHS vs private earnings streams. There are new variables on food support from friends/relatives, which complement the existing food bank and household food security set. 2023-2024 also includes Cost of Living Payment variables, including those on certain state benefits and the Warm Homes Discount scheme.

The achieved sample was over 16,500 households (28,500+ adults). A large majority of interviews were face-to-face with a minority being by telephone.

The BENUNIT table contains a raft of variables on the new material deprivation question set; see GOV.UK for background.

This version of the dataset (End User Licence) adds the DEBT table for the first time this year. The table contains responses on credit card debt, loan debt, hire purchase debt and store card debt.

Please send any feedback directly to the FRS Team Inbox: team.frs@dwp.gov.uk

Documentation

Many variables in the data files are fully labelled, but additional details can be found in the frs2324_variable_listing_eul.xlsx document.

The average amount of buy now, pay later debt from a UK consumer grew by several percent between 2021 and 2020 - although values did differ per BNPL platform. Klarna and Clearpay - two of the most downloaded BNPL apps in the United Kingdom - also had some of the lowest debts per capita compared to some of the other leading BNPL platforms. The source does not explain why these differences exist, although it does mention that most consumers took significantly longer than the average repayment time limit of ** days. This included both Klarna as well as Clearpay, as ***** percent and ** percent of respondents, respectively, felt they would not be able to pay back their money to the two platforms within ** days after a purchase. In general, however, repayments were outstripping new lending since the coronavirus pandemic, with regards to credit card debt in the UK.

Denmark, the Netherlands, and Norway were among the European countries with most indebted households in 2023 and 2024. The debt of Dutch households amounted to *** percent their disposable income in the 2nd quarter of 2024. Meanwhile, Norwegian households' debt represented *** percent of their income in the 3rd quarter of 2023. However, households in most countries were less indebted, with that ratio amounting to ** percent in the Euro area. Less indebtedness in Western and Northern Europe There were several European countries where household's debts outweighed their disposable income. Most of those countries were North or West European. However, the indebtedness ratio in Denmark has been decreasing during the past decade. As the debt of Danish households represented nearly *** percent in the last quarter of 2014, which has fallen very significantly by 2024. Other countries with indebted households have been following similar trends. The households' debt-to-income ratio in the Netherlands has also fallen from over *** percent in 2013 to *** percent in 2024. Debt per adult in Europe In Europe, the value of debt per adult varies considerably from an average of around 10,000 U.S. dollars in Europe to a much higher level in certain countries such as Switzerland. Debts can be formed in a number of ways. The most common forms of debt include credit cards, medical debt, student loans, overdrafts, mortgages, automobile financing and personal loans.

This dataset provides values for INTEREST RATE reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

Most of the overdue money for bills and loans of people who sought debt advice in 2022 came from mortgage payments. On average, clients who came to the charity StepChange seeking credit counseling had nearly ***** British pounds for rent payments past due. Meanwhile, that group of people also owed over ***** British pounds on payments for dual fuel, which is a type of utility where households get their gas and electricity supply from the same provider.

Young people in the United Kingdom had on average a higher monthly debt from buy now, pay later services than older consumers. Consumers between 18 and 24 years old had the highest volume of debt from buy now, pay later (BNPL) in 2022. Meanwhile, the orders by BNPL users from 45 to 54 years of age amounted to *** British pounds on average.