2008 The year that personal debt rose by £1 million every 10 minutes

The latest debt statistics from Credit Action have proved an alarming read, highlighting just how deep in debt Britons really are.

According to the charity, total UK personal debt stood at £1,456 billion at the end of November last year, rising £56 billion within the last year. This means that during 2008, personal debt increased by £1 million every 10 minutes.

The data shows that the average household debt in Britain, including mortgages, now stands at £59,670. Broken down, the data reveals that today British consumers are set to borrow another £154 million and pay £252 million in interest.

Noticeably, Britons have revealed that financial issues are now above crime and immigration as the nation’s biggest worry. 54% are concerned about the state of the economy, and 44% are preoccupied with their personal finances.

Meanwhile, the Bank of England’s October Financial Stability Report estimated that the total losses stemming from the economic crisis so far stand at £1.8 trillion, with £122.6 billion of that amount coming from the UK, the rest from the US.

Finally – and perhaps a real sign of how deep-rooted debt is in our society – research by APACS revealed that there are actually more credit cards in the UK than people. At the beginning of last year, there were 73 million credit and charge cards in the UK compared to 60 million people

Article sourced from www.debtmanagementtoday.co.uk 7th January 2009