The total amount of personal debt in the UK stood at £1.436bn at the end of January 2010. This was a growth of 0.8% over the previous twelve months as seen in figures recently shown by Credit Action in the Debt Fact and Figures release.

The figures also revealed that total lending in January rose by £2.0bn and secured lending increased by £1.5bn in the month. Consumer credit lending increased by £0.5bn (total lending in Jan 2008 grew by £8.4bn).

Total secured lending on dwellings at the end of January 2010 stood at £1,237bn. The twelve-month growth rate was 1.0%. Total consumer credit lending to individuals at the end of January 2010 was £225bn with the annual growth rate of consumer credit was less negative at – 0.2%.

The average household debt in the UK is £8,939 (excluding mortgages). This figure increases to £18,623 if the average is based on the number of households who actually have some form of unsecured loan.

The average household debt in the UK is £58,040 (including mortgages). If you add to this the December 2009 pre budget report figure for public sector net debt (PSND) expected in 2014-15 (excluding financial interventions) then this figure rises to £116,493 per household.

The average debt owed by every UK adult now stands at £30,306 (including mortgages). This is 129% of average earnings. Average outstanding mortgage for the 11.1m households who currently have mortgages now stands at £111,474. Britain’s interest repayments on personal debt were £68.3bn in the last 12months.

The average interest paid by each household on their total debt is approximately £2,710 each year. According to PwC the average household will need to spend approximately 15% of net income purely to service the interest payments arising from personal debt. Average consumer borrowing via credit cards, motor and retail finance deals, overdrafts and unsecured personal loans has risen to £4,667 per average UK adult at the end of January 2010.