Debt can have a significant impact on people’s lives, and on a country’s development as well – you have to take it into account every time you’re budgeting for something, planning a holiday or a new project.
With the UK finding its feet after the financial crash of 2007/08, many people are looking at consolidating their debt – whether though 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. Are we out of our depth or are we staying above water?
What's in this guide?
Quick overview
How much debt is the UK in?
- £1.637 trillion is owed by individuals in the UK (June 2019)
- On average every Brit spent £967 on interest alone last year
- 350 people are declared bankrupt every day in the UK
- £31,232 average debt per adult in the UK (June 2019)
- There is over £1.8 trillion public sector debt in the UK (June, 2019)
- This is equal to 83.1% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
112%
Average debt of £31,232 per adult, is 112% of average earnings.
Personal debt statistics
Personal debt is the money owed by individuals, it could be from a mortgage, credit card or short term loan for example. We looked into how much is owed by the UK population.
| Year | Total debt (trillion) |
|---|---|
| 2012 | £1.421 |
| 2013 | £1.430 |
| 2014 | £1.460 |
| 2015 | £1.456 |
| 2016 | £1.508 |
| 2017 | £1.562 |
| 2018 | £1.616 |
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 £50 billion based on April 2019 trends
- Borrowers paid £139 million in interest a day in April 2019
- Per household that is an average of £1,849 in annual interest repayments alone
- Per person that is an average of £967 a year in interest repayments
3.5%
Annual interest repayments of £967 represents 3.5% of average earnings.
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?
- £217 billion outstanding consumer credit lending at the end of April 2019.
- Up from £207.1 billion in December 2017.
- Total credit card debt in June 2019 was £72.7 billion, up from £70.1 billion in December 2017
- Per household this is £2,653 of credit card debt alone.
26 years and 9 months
To pay back average credit card debt bearing the average interest, at the minimum repayment each month, it would take 26 years and 9 months, 6 months longer than in 2017.
Consumer credit lending in the UK from 2012-2018
| Year (Dec) | Debt (Billions) |
|---|---|
| 2012 | £156.0 |
| 2013 | £158.6 |
| 2014 | £168.0 |
| 2015 | £177.1 |
| 2016 | £190.1 |
| 2017 | £205.3 |
| 2018 | £207.1 |
| 2019 (Apr) | £217.0 |
How big of a problem is debt to individuals in the UK?
- 350 people are declared insolvent or bankrupt every day
- Citizens Advice Bureaux dealt with 2,527 new debt problems every day in the year (May 2019)
- 15 properties are repossessed every day
- 1,213 people a day reported they had become redundant between January and March (2019)
4 minutes 7 seconds
Every 4 minutes a person is declared insolvent/bankrupt in the UK.
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 £1.818 trillion in June 2019
- UK GDP is over £2 trillion (£2.033 trillion)
- Public sector debt is equal to 83.1% of GDP (June 2019)
- This is down from 84.6% at the same time last year (June 2018)
- Compared to public sector debt of 35.9% in 2007 (pre financial crash)
| Year | Net Debt (excluding public sector banks) as a % of GDP |
|---|---|
| 2010 | 70.30% |
| 2011 | 74.80% |
| 2012 | 78.20% |
| 2013 | 80.40% |
| 2014 | 83.30% |
| 2015 | 83.40% |
| 2016 | 84.50% |
| 2017 | 84.50% |
| 2018 | 84.10% |
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 have the highest level of debt as a percentage of GDP – at 236.6%
- Greece has a debt of 176.9% of its GDP
- The UK sits 28th 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
| Year | £ Billion | % of GDP |
|---|---|---|
| 2010/11 | £46.8 | 2.9% |
| 2011/12 | £49.8 | 3.0% |
| 2012/13 | £49 | 2.9% |
| 2013/14 | £48.8 | 2.7% |
| 2014/15 | £45.4 | 2.4% |
| 2015/16 | £45.1 | 2.4% |
| 2016/17 | £48.7 | 2.4% |
| 2017/18 | £55 | 2.7% |
| 2018/19 | £48.7 | 2.3% |
Sources used
- IMF
- ONS
- The Money Charity
- OBR
Click here for more research. For all media enquiries, please contact:
Matt Mckenna
Head of UK communications
T: +44 20 8191 8806
