Public sector net debt amounted to 95.8 percent of gross domestic product in the United Kingdom during the 2024/25 financial year, or 90 percent when the Bank of England is excluded. UK government debt is at its highest levels since the early 1960s, due to a significant increase in borrowing during the COVID-19 pandemic. After peaking at 251.7 percent shortly after the end of the Second World War, government debt in the UK gradually fell, before a sharp increase in the late 2000s at the time of the global financial crisis. Debt not expected to start falling until 2029/30 In 2024/25, the UK's government expenditure was approximately 1.28 trillion pounds, around 44.7 percent of GDP. This spending was financed by 1.13 trillion pounds of revenue raised, and 151 billion pounds of borrowing. Although the UK government can still borrow money in the future to finance its spending, the amount spent on debt interest has increased significantly recently. Recent forecasts suggest that while the debt is eventually expected to start declining, this is based on falling government deficits in the next five years. Government facing hard choices Hitting fiscal targets, such as reducing the national debt, will require a careful balancing of the books from the current government, and the possibility for either spending cuts or tax rises. Although Labour ruled out raising the main government tax sources, Income Tax, National Insurance, and VAT, at the 2024 election, they did raise National Insurance for employers (rather than employees) and also cut Winter Fuel allowances for large numbers of pensioners. Less than a year after implementing cuts to Winter Fuel, the government performed a U-Turn on the issue, and will make it widely available by the winter of 2025.

In the first half of 2024, the total value of debt from loans to households in the United Kingdom amounted to approximately ************ British pounds. It was in 2004, when household debt surpassed the ************ 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.

Government debt in the United Kingdom reached over 2.8 trillion British pounds in 2024/25, compared with 2.69 trillion pounds in the previous financial year. Although debt has been increasing throughout this period, there is a noticeable jump between 2019/20, and 2020/21, when debt increased from 1.82 trillion pounds, to 2.15 trillion. The UK's government debt was the equivalent of 95.8 percent of GDP in 2024/25, and is expected to increase slightly in coming years, and not start falling until the end of this decade. Public finances in a tight spot With government debt approaching 100 percent of GDP, the UK finds itself in a tricky fiscal situation. If the UK can't reduce it's spending, or increase its revenue, the government will have to continue borrowing large amounts, increasing the debt further. Adding to the problem, is the fact that financing this debt has got steadily more expensive recently, with the government currently spending more on debt interest than it does on defence, transport, and public order and safety. Can the UK grow out its debt? After the Second World War, when the national debt reached over 250 percent of GDP, the UK managed to reduce its debt-to-GDP ratio, due to the economy growing faster than its debt over a long period of time. This is certainly the hope of the current Labour government, who are seeking to avoid significant tax and spending adjustments by strengthening the economy. Overdue investments in infrastructure and increased capital spending may eventually achieve this goal, but the government's declining popularity suggests they may not be in power by the time these policies might eventually bear fruit.

Households that have liquidity problems and solvency problems only

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 Net Issues of International Debt Securities for Issuers in Other Financial Corporations, All Maturities, Nationality of Issuer in West Indies UK (DISCONTINUED) (IDSGFCAMNINI1Z) from Q3 1993 to Q1 2015 about British West Indies, issues, finance companies, companies, finance, maturity, debt, financial, Net, and securities.

Point locations of Debt advice agencies including attributes information such as contact details and drop-in session times.Debt advice agencies offer advice and support to people facing difficulties with debt and other finacial problems. Most agencies provide this assistence in a number of ways, including drop-in sessions, pre-arranged appointments, telephone consultations and online information. Note that you may need to bring some paperwork or personal details to attend drop-in sessions. Call the agency for details.

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.

Point locations of Debt advice agencies including attributes information such as contact details and drop-in session times.

Debt advice agencies offer advice and support to people facing difficulties with debt and other finacial problems. Most agencies provide this assistence in a number of ways, including drop-in sessions, pre-arranged appointments, telephone consultations and online information. Note that you may need to bring some paperwork or personal details to attend drop-in sessions. Call the agency for details.

Graph and download economic data for Net Issues of International Debt Securities for Issuers in Other Financial Corporations, All Maturities, Residence of Issuer in West Indies UK (DISCONTINUED) (IDSOFAMRINI1Z) from Q1 1987 to Q2 2015 about British West Indies, issues, finance companies, companies, finance, maturity, debt, financial, Net, residents, and securities.

Graph and download economic data for Net Issues of International Debt Securities for Issuers in Non-Financial Corporations (Corporate Issuers), All Maturities, Nationality of Issuer in West Indies UK (DISCONTINUED) (IDSGNFAMNINI1Z) from Q3 1994 to Q2 2012 about British West Indies, issues, nonfinancial, maturity, debt, Net, corporate, and securities.

Graph and download economic data for Net Issues of International Debt Securities for Issuers in Non-Financial Corporations (Corporate Issuers), All Maturities, Residence of Issuer in West Indies UK (DISCONTINUED) (IDSNFAMRINI1Z) from Q4 1993 to Q2 2015 about British West Indies, issues, nonfinancial, maturity, debt, Net, securities, corporate, and residents.

In 2022, the most common reason for having personal debt by people seeking financial advice in the United Kingdom (UK) was lack of control over finances. According to the figures, ** percent of clients who sought debt counseling with the UK charity StepChange had debt problems because of the increase in the cost of living. Personal debt is defined as a financial obligation owed by an individual or a household.

Graph and download economic data for Net Issues of International Debt Securities for Issuers in Financial Institutions Sector (Banks), All Maturities, Residence of Issuer in British Overseas Territories (DISCONTINUED) (IDSBMRINI1W) from Q4 1996 to Q4 1998 about issues, United Kingdom, maturity, sector, debt, financial, Net, residents, securities, banks, and depository institutions.

The data comprises of qualitative semi-structured interviews with two groups. The first is individuals in the North East of England who have accessed High Cost Short Term Credit through digital interfaces such as laptops and smart phones. Discussions focus on how the design of these digital interfaces and their mobile nature influenced people's decision to access credit and how they went on to manage this debt. The second is individuals working in the debt charity and regulation sector. These interviews focused on how charities and regulators understood the role digital interfaces played in the decision making processes around accessing credit.The HCSTC market in the UK has shown huge growth over the past five years. The cash and pay day loan market (a well publicised part of HCSTC) is now estimated to be worth two billion pounds a year (CMA, 2015). Part of the expansion of the HCSTC market is a shift in how this credit is accessed. In the case of cash and pay day loans, previously, customers would have to phone or call into a branch of a cash or pay day loan company to apply for a loan. With the rise of internet enabled devices and internet access, HCSTC companies have developed websites and mobile applications, where customers can apply through automated systems and receive decisions about the status of their loan very quickly. The ease and speed of using these systems has led to a situation in which 82% of all cash and pay day loans in the UK are applied for and approved online (Competition and Markets Authority, 2015). This project seeks to understand how the design of HCSTC websites and applications as well as the spaces and times in which these loans are applied for influence consumers decision making processes when applying for loans. Understanding the relationship between digital interfaces used to access HCSTC and decision making processes associated with these devices is important due to problematic nature of much HCSTC debt. HCSTC is problematic because it provides easy credit to those that can least afford it and is incredibly expensive, with high APR's and penalties for late payment. Indeed recent legislation has been created to regulate the financial terms of parts of the HCSTC market, such as cash and pay day loan companies. This regulation has included limits on the total APR and total cost of penalties for late payment of loans. However, no in-depth academic research has been conducted on: 1. How HCSTC websites and apps (including cash, pay day, guarantor and log book loans) are designed to shape decision making processes around taking a loan. 2. How the design of HCSTC websites and appsencourage, smooth or normalize processes of taking a loan in practice. 3. How the spaces and times where digital devices are used to access these sites and applications might impact these decision making processes in practice. This is an important omission, considering that 82% of these loans are accessed via digital interfaces (CMA, 2015). To investigate this issue, the research uses qualitative methods to study three groups. 1. Website and app designers. This part of the project will investigate the techniques involved in designing HCSTC websites and apps. Through 2 days of observation of designers at the App World and Consumer Credit conferences and 10 interviews the project will understand how designers discuss and reflect upon their own practices in relation to mobile website and app design. Through interviews with designers the project will investigate how websites are designed in an attempt to prime consumer decision making processes regarding taking a loan or buying a product. 2. Staff from debt advice charities, including The Debt Advice Foundation, Citizen's Advice Bureau and financial regulators including The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Through 10 interviews, this part of the project will seek to understand how members of staff from debt advice services understand the role of digital interfaces in shaping their clients practices and whether they give advice regarding the use of digital devices to their clients. 3. HCSTC website and app users in Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK. This aspect of the project will seek to understand how people experience and use HCSTC products. Through data gathered in 40 interviews the project will fill the gap in knowledge around how these interfaces influence decision making processes of customers and produce evidence-based recommendations regarding the implications of digital interface design on forms of problem debt enabled by HCSTC. Data was collected through qualitative semi-structured interviews, with a focus on conversational interview approaches. Participants were sourced through snowballing of contacts with debt advice charities and advertising throughout Newcastle Upon Tyne. All interviews with users have been anonymised to protect participants and details of individual names, locations, and organisations have been removed to avoid identification by association, apart from charities and regulators, which agreed to being named.