Personal Debt in the UK 50% Higher Than in Western Europe

The UK leads the rest of Western Europe in consumer debt figures with the average citizen carrying approximately £3,175 of unsecured debt according to research conducted independently by the analysis firm Datamonitor.

This saturation of consumer credit including the use of credit cards has not slowed down the boom in mortgage lending, however, with the British Bankers Association (BBA) reporting a 24 percent increase in August, a figure accounting for some £20.9 billion. The rate of loan approvals for house purchases in August was 3 percent higher overall and 11 percent greater in value that a year ago.

Datamonitor did not, however, use mortgages and other vehicles for secure loans in their computations but rather concentrated on unsecured debt. The levels revealed in the study are alarming in contrast with the debt load of the average western European outside the UK which is only £1,558.

Whereas the UK seems to exist on an almost insatiable appetite for credit and more credit, the rest of Europe has a culture of saving that is adverse to debt accumulation. Still, the UK credit market is reaching its growth limit with only a 2.7 percent increase over the past five years compared to some 8.3 percent in the remainder of western Europe.

Speaking for Datamonitor, a financial services analyst said, "UK lenders looking for business opportunities should look overseas. The UK is an increasingly difficult place to do business, due to the highly indebted nature of the population."

In the same vein, the Confederation of British Industry issued a statement on September 26 saying that while sales growth is up in the UK for the sixth month in a row, there is a "shadow of darker clouds gathering on the horizon," a somewhat ominous reference to the twin specters of rising inflation and rising interest rates.