UK Debt: January 2024 statistics

Snapshot of UK debt January 2024

• Inflation rate has decreased to 4% 
• Petrol has further decreased by 9 pence per litre in December 2023 
• Average credit card debt per household stood at £2,452 in November 2023 
• The average total debt per household is £57,910 in November 2023 
• Total unsecured debt stands at £4,163 per adult in November 2023 
• 1.6% decrease in the average first time buyer house price to the year to October 2023

UK Personal Debt

Remember that you can view the statistics from last month here in order to compare with the January 2024 debt statistics.

• The average total debt per household, including mortgages, was £65,795 or £34,737 per adult, which is a slight increase from last month’s figures. This is around 100.5% of average earnings
• 279 people per day were declared bankrupt or insolvent in England and Wales from August to October. This equates to one person every 5 minutes and 9 seconds
• The Citizens Advice Bureau dealt with 1,006 debt issues every day in the year to December 2023
• 6.8 properties were repossessed every day in July to September, which was one every 3 hours and 47 minutes
• 1,109 people a day reported they had become redundant between May and July
• Government debt increased by £442 million per day in the three months to October 2023
• The number of people unemployed increased by 658 per day in the year to July 2023
• The UK population shrunk by an estimated 151 people per day between 2020 and 2021

The statistics and press release this month focused on the fact that despite it being Winter, UK households are reducing their spend on fuel and energy.

Whilst the reductions look like they are driven by falling prices, it seems that people are looking to reduce their overall expenditure against the backdrop of debt and the news that energy prices are going to increase in the first quarter of this year. In the last quarter (October to December 2023), people spent an average of £3,481 per household per day on water, electricity and gas. This was 14.6% less than the same period a year before. This is a worrying figure, especially during the colder months because a number of deaths are attributed to a cold home.

The Money Charity have commented that although seeking best value from spending is important, and it has a positive impact on Financial Wellbeing, if these figures are indicative of increasing struggles for families, then we should be concerned.

If last year had a negative impact on your financial situation and you are worried about your debt situation this year, feel free to call us for a discussion on what debt solutions could be available to suit your personal situation.