This statistic displays the distribution of average amount of debt resulting from loans in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2017, by age group. Adults aged between 35 and 44 years of age had the highest amount of debt in loans, with an average of over 2.6 thousand British pounds. Those aged over 75 years had the lowest average debt in personal loans, with an average of 240 British pounds in 2017.

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.

In 2025, students graduating from English universities will have incurred an average of 53,000 British pounds of student loan debt, compared with 39,000 pounds in Wales, 28,000 pounds in Northern Ireland, and around 18,000 pounds in Scotland.

This statistic displays the average debt amount owed in student loans to the Student Loans Company in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2017, by age group. In that time, 18 to 24 year olds owed the most in student loan, with an average debt of over seven thousand British pounds. Adults in age group 55 to 64 still owed debt from student loans, with an average amount owed of 60 British pounds.

This statistic shows the share of British adults who worry about their current debts as of January 2020, listed by age groups. 52 percent of people aged 35 to 44 years old worried about their debts at that time.

UK adults aged 35 to 44 were most likely to have a mortgage loan in 2022, with more than half of the respondents in a nationally representative survey sharing that they held one in their own name or joint names. The average for the country stood at 28 percent at that time. Among older generations, the percentage of mortgage holders declined, as these were more likely to have already paid off their mortgage.

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.

This statistic displays the average amount of debt resulting from motor finance loans 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 motor finance, with an average of over 1.1 thousand British pounds. Those aged over 75 years had the lowest average debt in motor finance loans, with an average of 200 British pounds in 2017.

This statistic displays the average amount owed in overdraft loans in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2017, by age group. Adults aged between 45 and 54 years of age had the highest amount of overdraft debt, with an average of 220 British pounds. Those aged over 75 years on average tended not to have an overdraft debt.

In 2017, around 6.5 million adults in the United Kingdom had no cash savings. Once you are an adult, having savings is a key element of preparing yourself for life’s little and big surprises. Building cash savings can be a difficult task as it takes careful planning, and time to accumulate. Those aged between 18 and 24 years of age in the United Kingdom have the lowest mean amount in cash savings of any age group. As of 2017, one in eight UK adults had no cash savings, with a further 32 percent of the population having between zero and two thousand British pounds.

With age comes wisdom

The correlation between age and the mean amount of cash savings can be somewhat linked to individuals’ priorities. Younger people will be looking to put money towards large items such as a car, home or travel whereas those aged over 65 have not only had time to build their savings, but also are more likely to have no unsecured debt, and to own a property outright.

Rainy day fund

As we get older, the importance of having some form of savings for an emergency, or unforeseen circumstances becomes clearer. Planning for the long-term becomes of higher importance as we age. Despite this, as of 2018, just over half of the adult population had adequate savings for retirement.

Over a quarter of households in the United Kingdom (UK) had less than 1,500 British pounds in savings and investments in the financial year of 2021/22. Meanwhile, a fifth of all households had at least 30,000 British pounds saved up, a percentage that has not changed since 2020/21. In 2021/22, Northern Ireland was one of the regions in the United Kingdom with the lowest ownership rate of ISAs and other savings accounts.

In Europe, the variation in average amounts of financial wealth per adult varied considerably as of 2022, from approximately 449,000 U.S. dollars in Switzerland to roughly 1,200 U.S. dollars in Azerbaijan. In Europe, the overall average financial wealth per adult as of 2022 was 84,308 U.S. dollars. In terms of private wealth, Europe held the second highest value in the world, after North America.

What is financial wealth?

Financial wealth, also known as financial assets or liquid assets can include wealth that an individual has in the forms of cash, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and bank deposits. In addition to financial wealth, wealth can also be measured in other assets, called non-financial wealth. This includes physical assets, such as real estate, land, vehicles, jewelry, and art, just to name a few.

Where do most wealthy individuals live?

Individuals with a net worth over one million U.S. dollars are called high-net worth individuals (HNWI). The United States was the home country to the highest number of HNWIs in 2021. China followed, although their number of HNWIs did not even reach one third of the number in the United States. In Europe, Switzerland is the country with the highest average financial wealth per adult, but with its small population size, the number of HNWIs does not come near the numbers in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Italy – the European countries with the highest number of HNWIs. Considering Switzerland’s small population size, however, it is the country in the world with the highest proportion of millionaires.

In 2022/23 there were estimated to be over **** million students enrolled in higher education courses in the United Kingdom, which was the highest number of enrolled students during this provided time period. Although the number of students in the UK fell from *** million in 2011/12 to **** by 2014/15, this trend reversed in subsequent years, reaching the peak in the most recent year. Largest UK universities At ******* students, the mainly remote, Open University had the largest number of students enrolled among UK-based higher education institutions in 2022/23. University College London had the second-highest number of students at ******, followed by the University of Manchester at ******. At the UK's two oldest and most prestigious universities, Oxford and Cambridge, there were ******, and ****** students respectively. The university with the most students in Scotland was the University of Glasgow at *******students, with Wales' being Cardiff University at ****** students, and Northern Ireland's Ulster University having ****** students. Student Debt in the UK For students that graduated from English universities in 2024, the average student loan debt incurred over the course of their studies was over ****** British pounds. Although students graduated with less debt from universities in Wales, Northern Ireland, and especially Scotland, this too has been growing recently. In 2024, students from Scottish Universities graduated with an average of ****** pounds of debt, compared with ****** in Wales, and ****** in Northern Ireland. The overall outstanding student loan debt in the UK reached over *** billion pounds in 2023/24, with the vast majority of this debt from students who studied in England.