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Last updated: 6 June 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 statsMethodologySourcesCite this page

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.

84%

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

2.8m

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

10.1m

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

13.1m

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

3.5m

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

£1.9bn

was the net amount borrowed through consumer credit in April 2026.

The Bank of England release covers lending to individuals across consumer credit and mortgage borrowing.

Source: Bank of England Money and Credit (April 2026). Link to this stat

£20.1bn

was spent on UK-issued credit cards in February 2026.

UK Finance recorded 354 million credit card transactions that month.

Source: UK Finance card spending (February 2026). Link to this stat

48.6%

of outstanding credit card balances incurred interest.

Outstanding credit card balances were 9.4% higher than a year earlier.

Source: UK Finance card spending (February 2026). Link to this stat

126,240

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

89,130

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

163,916

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

£8,021

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

Cite this page

Suggested citation: 118 118 Money, "UK credit and debt statistics 2026", last updated 6 June 2026, https://www.118118money.com/uk-credit-debt-statistics.

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