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 April 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 April 2025 grew almost six percent year-on-year.

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.

In the first half of 2024, the total value of debt from loans to households in the United Kingdom amounted to approximately two trillion British pounds. It was in 2004, when household debt surpassed the one trillion British pounds mark. Debts can be formed in a number of ways. The most common forms of debt for households include credit cards, medical debt, student loans, overdrafts, mortgages, automobile financing and personal loans.

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 49 days. This included both Klarna as well as Clearpay, as eight percent and 17 percent of respondents, respectively, felt they would not be able to pay back their money to the two platforms within 30 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.

The are several factors that can accumulate in the repossession of a home, the most common reason for being mortgage arrears. This occurs when borrowers can no longer make the mortgage repayments. Mortgage lenders will repossess the home to sell to recover the money owed. In 2023, between 176 and 424 homes in England were repossessed monthly. In Wales, this figure ranged between 14 and 32. Which regions saw the most repossessions? The North West recorded the highest number of repossessions in 2023. Conversely, the East of England, South West, East Midlands, and Wales had the lowest number of repossessions. London and South East, the regions with the highest average earnings, ranked in the middle. Mortgage arrears on the rise Mortgage arrears in the UK have increased quarter-on-quarter since the third quarter of 2022, showing that homebuyers are increasingly struggling to meet their monthly obligations. Borrowers who missed a mortgage payment were highly likely to also fall behind on other financial commitments, with credit card debt being the most common one.