Not counting student loans, the average amount of personal loans in a UK household grew by more than 1,000 British pounds between 2014 and 2019. Whilst only just returning to values recorded in 2009, the figure for 2019 marks a growth driven by an increased use of personal loans to finance one's needs in recent years. Increased were especially observed in 2016 and 2017 - as the loan average increased by over *** British pounds in both years.

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 *** thousand British pounds. Those aged over 75 years had the lowest average debt in personal loans, with an average of *** British pounds in 2017.

Consumer lending, excluding student loans, in the United Kingdom (UK) reached nearly 33.51 billion British pounds in March 2025. These figures have thus recovered from the stark decline suffered in April 2020. The value of new consumer credit granted also decreased during the economic crisis of 2007, although more gradually. The category consumer lending includes loans and advances to individuals through credit cards and personal loans. The majority of consumer credit is through credit card lending. Mortgage lending The value of outstanding mortgage lending in the UK is far higher than that of consumer credit. Additionally, the outstanding volume of consumer credit has fluctuated more in the past, while mortgages have had a more consistent growth. In the second quarter of 2024, the value of gross new mortgage lending in the UK amounted to over 60 billion British pounds. Credit card payments With billions of British pounds in gross consumer lending through credit cards, it’s unsurprising that the number of credit cards in circulation in 2022 was nearly as high as the number of people in the UK. The number of credit cards peaked in 2005, and it slightly decreased in the following months. However, there were still nearly 56 million credit cards in issue in the UK in 2023. The average amount spent per purchase on credit cards in the UK was roughly 59 British pounds in November 2024. This figure is much lower than the spending limit of most credit cards.

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.

The effective fixed interest rate of new consumer credit in the United Kingdom (UK) reached *** percent in June 2025. Since July 2020, interest rates for secured and unsecured loans soared, but they started falling again in the second half of 2024. In 2024, the average interest rates of personal loans in the UK varied significantly depending on the size of the loan.

This statistic shows the different value amounts people are willing to loan to others (as "I owe you"s or IOUs) in the United Kingdom, by type of relationship (close or distant), as of **********. On average UK adults are more comfortable lending cash to their family and friends rather than to other people. For example ** percent are willing to lend a hundred British pounds or more to their family and friends, but only **** percent are willing to lend an equal sum to other people.

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.