of UK adults held at least one credit or loan product in the previous 12 months.
The FCA equated this to 45.7 million people.
Source: FCA Financial Lives 2024 survey (May 2024). Link to this stat
Last updated: 6 July 2026
UK credit and debt statistics 2026
A sourced reference page for journalists, bloggers and researchers covering UK borrowing, credit cards, problem debt, debt advice and insolvency. Every statistic below includes a named source and date.
Headline UK credit and debt statistics
Use the links on each statistic to quote a stable section of this page. Figures are shown as reported by their source unless the wording says otherwise.
UK adults were in persistent credit card debt.
That means they paid more in interest, fees and charges than they paid off over the previous 12 to 18 months.
Source: FCA Financial Lives 2024 financial inclusion report (2024). Link to this stat
people revolved a balance on a credit card.
The FCA reported this as 31% of active credit card holders, or 19% of UK adults.
Source: FCA Financial Lives 2024 credit and loans report (2024). Link to this stat
UK adults had low financial resilience.
The FCA defined this group as adults heavily burdened by commitments, with low savings, or in financial difficulty.
Source: FCA Financial Lives 2024 financial inclusion report (2024). Link to this stat
UK adults held high-cost credit.
This rose from 2.8 million adults in the 2022 survey.
Source: FCA Financial Lives 2024 financial inclusion report (2024). Link to this stat
was the net amount borrowed through consumer credit in May 2026.
The Bank of England said this was slightly below the previous six-month average of £1.9 billion.
Source: Bank of England Money and Credit (May 2026). Link to this stat
was the annual growth rate for credit card borrowing.
The rate increased from 11.8% in April 2026.
Source: Bank of England Money and Credit (May 2026). Link to this stat
was the effective interest rate on new personal loans to individuals.
The equivalent rate was 9.53% in April 2026.
Source: Bank of England Money and Credit (May 2026). Link to this stat
was spent on UK-issued credit cards in March 2026.
UK Finance recorded 419 million credit card transactions that month, 8.6% more than in March 2025.
Source: UK Finance card spending (March 2026). Link to this stat
of outstanding credit card balances incurred interest.
Outstanding balances on credit card accounts were 9% higher than a year earlier.
Source: UK Finance card spending (March 2026). Link to this stat
individuals entered insolvency in England and Wales in May 2026.
The total was 2% higher than in April 2026 and 10% higher than in May 2025.
Source: The Insolvency Service (May 2026). Link to this stat
Breathing Space registrations were recorded in England and Wales in May 2026.
The total included 4,693 Standard registrations and 124 Mental Health registrations.
Source: The Insolvency Service (May 2026). Link to this stat
individual insolvencies were registered in England and Wales.
The annual total was 7% higher than in 2024 and the highest since 2010.
Source: The Insolvency Service (2025). Link to this stat
Breathing Space registrations were recorded in England and Wales.
The Insolvency Service said this was the highest annual total since the scheme began in 2021.
Source: The Insolvency Service (2025). Link to this stat
new StepChange clients completed their first debt advice session.
StepChange's figures describe people who completed debt advice with the charity, not the whole UK population.
Source: StepChange Statistics Yearbook 2025 (2025). Link to this stat
was the average credit card debt among StepChange clients with credit card debt.
Credit cards were the most common unsecured debt type in the StepChange 2025 yearbook.
Source: StepChange Statistics Yearbook 2025 (2025). Link to this stat
Methodology
This page collects published figures from public regulators, official statistics, an industry body and a national debt charity. It does not combine datasets or create new estimates. Where a source describes a specific group, such as StepChange clients, the wording keeps that limitation clear.
For annual figures, the year shown is the period covered by the source. For monthly figures, the month shown is the data month, not necessarily the publication month.
Sources used
- FCA Financial Lives 2024 survey - May 2024 survey, published May 2025 and updated May 2026
- FCA Financial Lives 2024: Financial inclusion selected findings - 2024 survey findings
- FCA Financial Lives 2024: Credit & loans selected findings - 2024 survey findings
- Bank of England Money and Credit - May 2026 data
- UK Finance card spending - March 2026 data, updated 16 June 2026
- The Insolvency Service individual insolvencies - May 2026 monthly statistics, released 19 June 2026
- The Insolvency Service individual insolvencies - 2025 annual summary, published 20 January 2026
- StepChange Statistics Yearbook 2025 - 2025 client data
Cite this page
Suggested citation: 118 118 Money, "UK credit and debt statistics 2026", last updated 6 July 2026, https://www.118118money.com/uk-credit-debt-statistics.
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