UK Debt Statistics 2021

With the recent news that the UK economy is picking up as lockdown restrictions ease, we thought that we would look into the UK debt statistics and see exactly where the impact of the past year has been realised.

Last year we were faced with the prospect of the worst recession in the last 300 years due to the impact of Covid and Brexit on the economy. Whilst official figures show that the UK economy shrank by 1.5% in the first quarter of 2021, it has since gathered speed as lockdown restrictions have continued to ease. 

This all sounds promising, but we must remember that the UK economy is still 8.7% smaller than it was pre-Covid. Add into the equation the fact that the Government support such as furlough is due to end this Autumn, plus potential interest rates hikes and things could start looking less optimistic. 

The Money Charity has released statistics on last month’s financial situation in the UK and the figures are really interesting.

Snapshot of UK debt statistics 2021

• 476,000 18-24 year olds were unemployed in the first quarter of 2021
• 8.6% increase in the average first time buyer house price 
• Private rental prices increased by 1.3% 
• Average credit card debt per household stood at £1,962
• Total unsecured debt stands at £3,724 per adult
• Average total debt per UK household is £60,935

UK Personal Debt

• The UK population owed £1.698.4 billion at the end of February, which is an increase of £15.1 billion or an extra £286 per adult
• The average total debt per adult is £32,053
• The Office for Budget Responsibility forecast in March 2021 that household debt of all types is set to rise from £2,006 billion in 2020 to £2.354 billion in 2025, which would make the average total debt per UK household £82,641
• On average, a UK household spends £4.20 per day on water, electricity and gas
• 290 people per day were declared insolvent or made bankrupt in England and Wales during the first quarter of 2021 which amounts to one person every 5 minutes
• 2,267 people per day were made redundant from December 2020 to February 2021
• A property was repossessed every 15 hours and 46 minutes in the months from October to December 2020
• UK mortgages moving into arrears of over 2.5% of the remaining balance rose by 18 per day
• UK unemployment rose to 850 people per day in the last twelve months to February 2021
• The average cost of raising a child from birth to the age of 18 is £23.25 per day for a couple and £28.22 per day for a single parent

If the past year has had a negative impact on your financial situation, feel free to call us for a discussion on what debt solutions could be available to suit your personal situation.