Debt statistics UK

Debt can have a significant impact on people’s lives and on a country’s development as well. With the ongoing economic uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, many people are looking at consolidating their debt, whether through secured loans, balance transfer credit cards or remortgaging – and lowering the interest they’re paying. We explore how much debt the UK is in, both as a country and as individuals. Is the UK out of its depth or staying above water?

Quick overview

How much debt is the UK in?

• £1,685 billion is owed by individuals in the UK (September 2020).
• On average every Brit spent £865 on interest alone last year.
• 280 people are declared bankrupt every day in the UK (August to October 2020).
• £31,798 average debt per adult in the UK (August 2020).
• There is over £1.95 trillion public sector debt in the UK (May 2020).
• This is equal to 100% of gross domestic product (GDP) – the first time that debt as a percentage of GDP has exceeded 100% since the financial year ending March 1963.

Personal debt statistics

Personal debt is the money owed by individuals. It could be from a mortgage, credit card, for example. We looked into how much is owed by the UK population. In August 2020, people in the UK owed £1.685 trillion. This is up by £23.4 billion from £1.669 trillion at the end of September 2019, an extra £441 per UK adult over the year.

• Total debt
• Table

How much interest is being paid on debt?

These stats show just how much interest is costing the UK.

• Total interest payments on personal debt is over £45.4 billion based on August 2020 trends.
• Borrowers paid £124 million in interest a day in September 2020.
• Per household that is an average of £1,630 in annual interest repayments alone.
• Per person that is an average of £857 a year in interest repayments.

How big is consumer credit lending in the UK?

Consumer credit lending is the amount of borrowing done on credit – but can we afford to pay it back?

• £206.7 billion outstanding consumer credit lending at the end of August.
• This is a decrease of £10.9 billion since September 2019.
• Total credit card debt in August 2020 was £61.4 billion, a 15.1% decrease in the year.
• Per household this is £2,204 of credit card debt alone.

Consumer credit lending in the UK from 2012–2020

• Credit lending
• Table

How big of a problem is debt to individuals in the UK?

• 280 people are declared insolvent or bankrupt every day.
• Citizens Advice dealt with 1,960 new debt problems every day in the year (to September 2020).
• 14 properties are repossessed every day (Q4 2019). In 2020 (Q2), one property per day was possessed, but this number is low due to the pandemic-related moratorium on forced possessions.
• 3,413 people a day reported they had become redundant between July and September (2020).

National debt statistics

National debt is the debt owed by the government of a country, as a result of a budget deficit. This is where government spending exceeds government revenue, often resulting in government borrowing.

• Public sector debt is calculated at £2.076 trillion in October 2020.
• UK GDP is over £2 trillion.
• The extra funding required to support government coronavirus support schemes combined with reduced cash receipts and a fall in gross domestic product (GDP) have all helped push public sector net debt as a ratio of GDP to levels last seen in the early 1960s.
• Compared to public sector debt of 34.2% in 2007/08 (pre-financial crash).

• National debt as a percentage of GDP
• Table

How does this debt compare to other countries?

This level of debt may seem worryingly high, but how does the UK compare to other countries around the world?

• Japan has the highest level of debt as a percentage of GDP, at 266%.
• Sudan has a debt of 259% of its GDP.
• The UK sits 16th in the world for highest debt/GDP ratio.

Debt interest

Borrowing money often incurs interest, even as a government. So how much is interest on the national debt costing the UK?

• In 2018/19, £48.7 billion was spent on interest repayments.
• This amounts to 2.3% of the UK’s GDP.
• 2017/18 represented the largest interest repayment of £55 billion.