Credit card debt in the United States has been growing at a fast pace between 2021 and 2025. In the fourth quarter of 2024, the overall amount of credit card debt reached its highest value throughout the timeline considered here. COVID-19 had a big impact on the indebtedness of Americans, as credit card debt decreased from *** billion U.S. dollars in the last quarter of 2019 to *** billion U.S. dollars in the first quarter of 2021. What portion of Americans use credit cards? A substantial portion of Americans had at least one credit card in 2025. That year, the penetration rate of credit cards in the United States was ** percent. This number increased by nearly seven percentage points since 2014. The primary factors behind the high utilization of credit cards in the United States are a prevalent culture of convenience, a wide range of reward schemes, and consumer preferences for postponed payments. Which companies dominate the credit card issuing market? In 2024, the leading credit card issuers in the U.S. by volume were JPMorgan Chase & Co. and American Express. Both firms recorded transactions worth over one trillion U.S. dollars that year. Citi and Capital One were the next banks in that ranking, with the transactions made with their credit cards amounting to over half a trillion U.S. dollars that year. Those industry giants, along with other prominent brand names in the industry such as Bank of America, Synchrony Financial, Wells Fargo, and others, dominate the credit card market. Due to their extensive customer base, appealing rewards, and competitive offerings, they have gained a significant market share, making them the preferred choice for consumers.

Graph and download economic data for Household Debt Service Payments as a Percent of Disposable Personal Income (TDSP) from Q1 1980 to Q2 2025 about disposable, payments, personal income, debt, percent, households, personal, income, services, and USA.

View quarterly updates and historical trends for US Credit Card Debt. from United States. Source: Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Track economic data wi…

The average amount of non-mortgage debt held by consumers in the United States has been falling steadily during the past years, amounting to ****** U.S. dollars in 2023. While respondents had ****** U.S. dollars of debt in 2018, that volume decreased to ****** U.S. dollars in 2019, which constituted the largest year-over-year decrease.What age groups are more indebted in the U.S.?The age group with the highest level of consumer debt in the U.S. was belonging to the Generation X with approximately ******* U.S. dollars of debt in 2022. The next generations with high consumer debt levels were baby boomers and millennials, whose debt levels were similar. In comparison, credit card debt is more equally distributed across all ages. There is an exception among people under 35 years old, who are significantly less burdened with credit card debt. However, most consumers expect to get rid of their debt in the short term. College expenses as a source of debtEducational expenses were not among the leading sources of debt among consumers in the U.S. in 2022. Instead, they made up about ** percent of the total. However, around ** percent of undergraduates from lower-income families had student loans, while over a fifth of undergraduates from higher-income families had student loans. Independently of how they cover these expenses, the confidence of students and parents about being able to pay these college costs was high in most cases.

Consumers in the United States had over **** trillion dollars in debt as of the first quarter of 2025. The majority of that debt were home mortgages, amounting to approximately **** trillion U.S. dollars. Student and car loans were the second and third largest component of household debt. Why is consumer debt important? Debt influences the Consumer Sentiment Index, which is an important indicator assessing the state of the U.S. economy. The U.S. housing market is also seen a bellwether of the economic conditions in the country. The housing industry employs a large number of people, and mortgages are large investments that consumers will pay off over the course of years, sometimes decades. Because of this, financial analysts closely watch consumer debt and its effects on the demand for housing. Attitudes towards debt Consumer perception of debt differed, depending on the kind of debt in question. While most saw a home mortgage as a positive investment, they increasingly looked at student loan debt as a negative debt. With education costs increasing, people are incurring more student loan debt in the United States. Credit card debt also had negative connotations.

Graph and download economic data for Consumer Loans: Credit Cards and Other Revolving Plans, All Commercial Banks (CCLACBW027SBOG) from 2000-06-28 to 2025-09-24 about revolving, credit cards, loans, consumer, banks, depository institutions, and USA.

Real consumer debt is now higher than its prior peak during the global financial crisis, driven in part by increases in credit card debt. Although the share of credit card debt transitioning into delinquency has risen, it remains below levels seen during the global financial crisis. Moreover, debt-to-income measures remain historically low, suggesting that consumers in aggregate may have more room to run up debt before experiencing further financial stress.

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.

Households Debt in the United States decreased to 68.30 percent of GDP in the first quarter of 2025 from 69.40 percent of GDP in the fourth quarter of 2024. This dataset provides - United States Households Debt To Gdp- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Generation X was the group of people with the highest average credit card balance in the United States in the 3rd quarter of 2024. That year, the average credit card debt of generation Z amounted to approximately ***** U.S. dollars. People in the silent generation had a credit card balance of roughly ***** U.S. dollars.

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

As of the first quarter of 2025, the levels of debt from consumer lending in the United States amounted to nearly five trillion U.S. dollars. The consumer credit debt of households and nonprofit organizations increased steadily in the last decade. Throughout that period, the outstanding consumer credit in the U.S. has also been growing.

Total credit card debt in the UK grew by over ****billion British pounds between March and April 2025, now reaching a similar level of debt as seen in early 2020. The annual growth rate of credit card debt stayed about the same in April 2025, reaching *** percent when compared to aApril 2024. The growth rate in 2024 has been decreasing until 2025 where it started to increase again, which may potentially be attributed to growing interest rates and the cost of living crisis.

Graph and download economic data for Consumer Debt Service Payments as a Percent of Disposable Personal Income (CDSP) from Q1 1980 to Q2 2025 about disposable, payments, personal income, debt, percent, personal, consumer, income, services, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Delinquency Rate on Credit Card Loans, All Commercial Banks (DRCCLACBS) from Q1 1991 to Q2 2025 about credit cards, delinquencies, commercial, loans, banks, depository institutions, rate, and USA.

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.

Debt Balance Credit Cards in the United States increased to 1.21 Trillion USD in the second quarter of 2025 from 1.18 Trillion USD in the first quarter of 2025. This dataset includes a chart with historical data for the United States Debt Balance Credit Cards.

Graph and download economic data for Households and Nonprofit Organizations; Consumer Credit as a Percentage of Disposable Personal Income; Liability, Level (BOGZ1FL153166006A) from 1946 to 2024 about disposable, nonprofit organizations, consumer credit, liabilities, personal income, percent, loans, households, personal, consumer, income, and USA.

Statistics on student debt, including the average debt at graduation, the percentage of graduates who owed large debt at graduation and the percentage of graduates with debt who had paid it off at the time of the interview, are presented by the province of study and the level of study. Estimates are available at five-year intervals.

Key information about China Household Debt

• China Household Debt reached 11,498.4 USD bn in Jan 2025, compared with the reported number of 11,347.6 USD bn in the previous month
• China Household Debt: USD mn data is updated monthly, available from Jan 2007 to Jan 2025
• The data reached an all-time high of 11,691.0 USD bn in Sep 2024 and a record low of 517.7 USD bn in Jan 2007

CEIC converts monthly Household Debt into USD. The People's Bank of China provides Household Debt in local currency. The Federal Reserve Board period end market exchange rate is used for currency conversions. Loans are used due to the lack of Flow of Funds statistics.


Further information about China Household Debt

• In the latest reports, China Household Debt accounted for 63.3 % of the country's Nominal GDP in Mar 2023
• Money Supply M2 in China increased 44,045.8 USD bn YoY in Sep 2024
• China Foreign Exchange Reserves was measured at 3,209.0 USD bn in Jan 2025
• The Foreign Exchange Reserves equaled 13.9 Months of Import in Dec 2024
• China Domestic Credit reached 49,338.1 USD bn in Jan 2025, representing an increased of 7.9 % YoY