• The average household debt will increase by £0.13 today (it grew by £11.11 a day in January 2008)
• 362 people today will be declared insolvent or bankrupt. KPMG estimate this will increase to 411 people a day throughout 2009 or 1 person becoming bankrupt or entering into an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) every 3.5 minutes.
• In the last 12 months consumers saved an average of £2.98 every day
• 2,000 Consumer County Court Judgements (CCJs) were issued every day in the first 3 months of 2009
• 125 properties were repossessed every day during the last 3 months to end June 2009. The Council of Mortgage lenders estimates this will increase to approximately 178 a day throughout 2009.
• Unemployment increased by 1,855 people every day during 12 months to end August 2009.
• 2,553 people reported they had become redundant every day during 3 months to end August 2009.
• £355m is the amount that the Government Public Sector net debt (PSDN) will grow today (equivalent to £4,110 per second).
• £63m is the interest the Government has to pay each day on the UKs net debt of £825bn. This is projected to rise to £118m a day (£43bn) in 2010 – 2011 financial year.
• 25,250 applications for consumer credit have been turned down every day.
• 287 mortgage possession claims will be issued and 209 mortgage possession orders will be made today
• 377 landlord possession claims will be issued and 258 landlord possession orders will be made today.
• The UK population is projected to grow by ~ 1,100 people a day over the next decade
• 21.9m plastic card purchase transactions will be made today with a total value of £1.05bn.
• 8.1m cash withdrawals will be made today with a total value of £530m
• Citizen Advice Bureaus dealt with 9,300 new debt problems every day in England and Wales
• The average car will cost £16.80 to run today

Statistical Sources - Unless otherwise indicated statistics in the “Total UK personal debt” section are calculated by Credit Action - primarily using the Bank of England's debt figures.

Real GDP in the UK economy during 2009 Q3 declined by 0.4% which means that Britain has officially been in recession for 18 months – the longest period since records began in 1955. GDP is now 5.2 per cent lower than the third quarter of 2008.

The Ernst & Young Item Club economist forecast warns GDP will struggle to pass one per cent growth in 2010 – as people turn to cutting back debts over spending and tax rises come.

There were 5.8 million working age benefit claimants at February 2009. This is an increase of 628,000 (13%) in the year.

UK base rate fell to a 315 year low when the official bank rate was reduced to 0.5% on 5th March 2009.

There were 5,055 compulsory liquidations and creditors’ voluntary liquidations in total in England and Wales in the second quarter of 2009 (on a seasonally adjusted basis). This was an increase of 2.9% on the previous quarter and an increase of 39.1% on the same period a year ago. In the twelve months ending Q2 2009, approximately 1 in 120 active companies (or 0.8%) went into liquidation. Additionally, there were 1,529 other corporate insolvencies in the second quarter of 2009 (not seasonally adjusted) comprising 345 receiverships, 1,027 administrations and 157 company voluntary arrangements. In total these represented an increase of 22.7% on the same period a year ago.

In September 2009 the public sector net debt (PSND) increased to £824.8bn, equivalent to 59.0% of gross domestic product and equivalent to ~ £33,000 per household. PSND has increased £130bn in 12 months (equivalent to £4,110 per second). The interest paid on this debt by the Government in April to September was £11.5bn which is equivalent to ~ £920 per household / annum.

According to the UK 2009 Budget report the public sector net debt (PSND), including unrealised losses from financial sector interventions, increases over the period to 2013-14 to £1,446bn (equivalent to £57,840 per household) and then stabilises at around 79% of GDP.

The number of unemployed people in the three months to August 2009 was 2.47 million (7.9%), up 88,000 from the previous three months and up 677,000 (1,855 a day) over the year. This is the highest figure in 14.5 years since April 1995. 233,000 people (2,553 a day) reported they had become redundant in the three months down 68,000 from the previous three months and up 85,000 from a year earlier.

There is a gap of 840,000 between the number of people who are currently unemployed and the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance benefit (1.63m).

Consumer Prices Index (CPI) annual inflation decreased to 1.1% in September. Retail Prices Index (RPI) fell - 1.4% in September, down from - 1.3% in August.

New car registrations rose for the third month in a row in September.  New car registrations rose 11.4% in September to 367,929 units.

UK retail sales values rose 2.8% on a like-for-like basis and rose 4.9% on a total basis, from September 2008.

The Policy Exchange says most people are aware that Britain has a huge national debt which is growing during the current fiscal crisis. But what many people do not know is that we have a second national debt – one that is kept out of government figures and hidden from view. This is the public sector pension debt, which has grown as successive governments have continued to promise public sector workers defined benefit pensions, often worth two thirds of final salary, index-linked for life. It is now equivalent to 78% of GDP (£1.1trillion) with the cost of servicing the debt each year to pay for these unfunded schemes now at £45.2 billion.

Research from moneysupermarket.com reveals that almost half of UK consumers (45%) are worried about funding Christmas this year. Their fears may be justified as two thirds of the population (66%) will not save enough cash in time to cover their Christmas costs, meaning credit cards, overdrafts, loans and December income will be used to take up the slack.

The recent rise in unemployment has left large numbers of people having to spend far more than they earn each month, according to the UK’s leading debt advice charity, Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS). There has been a significant drop in the income of people coming to the charity for help. Between October 2008 and May 2009 the average yearly income of a couple contacting CCCS dropped by over 12 percent. With average expenditure on priorities and essential living costs remaining the same, the amount available to that couple to repay their debts has dropped from £197 to minus £114. In the second quarter of 2009 over 30 percent of clients being counselled by the charity had to be advised that there was no immediate solution to their debt problem. They neither had the funds for a debt repayment plan nor an IVA, nor qualified for bankruptcy or a debt relief order. Their best hope was to try to increase their income.

The UK and Ireland are the worst places in Europe to live, according to the latest uSwitch.com Quality of Life Index. While the UK enjoys the highest net household income in Europe, quality of life is the poorest, proving that there is more to good living than money. Long working hours, lower holiday entitlement and a high cost of living all contribute to a poor quality of life in the UK.

Citizens Advice is reporting a 46% increase in the number of people struggling with debts owed to their gas and electricity companies. The increase over the last six months follows a rise of 82% in enquires about fuel debts in the three years since 2005/6.

The estimated number of households in fuel poverty in the UK rose between 2006 and 2007 by 0.5 million, to stand at around 4 million (around 16 per cent of all households).

A fifth of working-age adults in the poorest fifth are in arrears with their bills.  This is three times the rate for those on average incomes.

Citizens Advice Bureaux in England & Wales deal with 9,300 new debt problems every working day. Debt problems shot up 27% in the three months to the end of June 2009 compared with the same period last year

The average Brit is just £155 away from a money meltdown. Bright Grey reveals 12m Brits (25%) are currently struggling to cope with their monthly bills and 39% of people would be in trouble if they had to find just £50 extra each month. Essential bills now account for 68% of household income, which equates to £1,378 on average each month per person and £2,001 for families.

According to the latest survey from Equifax, nearly 1 in 3 consumers have turned to parents or other family members for help with debt repayments or finances. And more than half of consumers will freely discuss their financial situation with family.

The percentage of households where no adults work at end of June 2009 was 16.9% (40.4% in lone parent households). The number of working-age people in workless households increased by 500,000 to reach 4.8m. The number of children in workless households was 1.9m, up 170,000 from a year earlier. In addition there are 5.5m households (28.4% of all households) where at least one person aged 16 and over is in employment and at least one other is either unemployed or inactive.

Almost half of those in serious debt (43%) were almost too scared to take action because of the social stigma attached to it, according to research from talkaboutdebt.co.uk. The perceived reaction of their loved ones is one of the greatest fears revealed by those in debt, causing them to take longer to deal with it and often adding to their debt burden. One in seven people in serious debt (15%) have still not talked to anyone about it and nearly a quarter of people in debt take over a year to seek help.

The Insolvency Service said there were 33,073 individual insolvencies in England and Wales (362 people a day or 1 every 3.97 minutes) in the second quarter of 2009 on a seasonally adjusted basis. This was an increase of 11.1% on the previous quarter and an increase of 27.4% on the same period a year ago.

There were 11,400 cases of house possession (equivalent to one mortgage in 1,000) in the second quarter of 2009, 10% fewer than the 12,700 in the first quarter of the year but 14% more than the 10,000 cases of possession in the second quarter of last year according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders. This equates to 125 properties being repossessed every day or 1 property being repossessed every 11.5 minutes.  

The number of loans with arrears of more than 2.5% of the mortgage balance rose to 205,600 in the second quarter of 2009 which is 47% up on the 139,700 in the second quarter of 2008. At the end of June, the number of three months-plus cases stood at 270,400 which is 77% up on the 152,700 in the second quarter of 2008.

The FSA estimate that at the end of Q2 there were 403,000 loan accounts in reportable arrears (> 1.5% of current loan balance), an increase of 3,000 or 1% on Q1, and a rise of 30% on a year ago. At the end of Q2, loans in arrears represented 3.66% of the value of the loan book, up 1.1% from a year earlier.

The total number of county court judgments (CCJs) against consumers in England and Wales in Q1 2009 was 182,490 which was a 9.7% decrease from the previous quarter. This is equivalent to 2,000 every day.

Sainsbury’s Finance research found that almost one in five (18.5%) people in debt and in a relationship claim to be hiding the true extent of their debt from their partner or spouse.  Its findings indicate that some 1.75 million people are hiding some debt from their loved one, and some 1.92 million people admit to hiding big or extravagant purchases from their partner. 3.93m are frequently missing bill payment deadlines; 3.6m say they are currently ignoring or delaying opening bank statements and 3.34m say they ignore or delay opening any envelopes that look like bills. 

Almost half of British consumers think they are financially no worse off than this time last year, according to TNS. 45% of the 5,000 consumers surveyed say that their financial situation is the same or better than it was 12 months ago. Despite the national doom and gloom, a surprising 15% believe that they are actually better off than they were in mid-2008.

A recent profile of CAB clients revealed that CAB debt clients owe an average of £16,971, an amount it would take an average of 93 years to pay off at a rate they can afford. The most common reasons for debt were low income, over-commitment, illness or disability and job loss. But irresponsible lending, poor financial skills and increases in the cost of living had also played a significant part in people’s debt problems.

A poll conducted by the Resolution Foundation found that nearly 3 million low earners now worry ‘all the time’ about their personal finances. This is double the number found in 2007. The poll also found that, today, nearly 90 per cent of low earners (people who live on annual household incomes of between £12,000 and £27,000) worry at least ‘sometimes’ about their personal finances.

uSwitch calculations estimate that 7.3m consumers currently make over 38m cash withdrawals using a credit card every year. The interest rate applied to withdrawals has rocketed by 41% over the past three years from 21.22% APR in 2005 to almost 30% APR.

768,000 (47.5%) applications for consumer credit were rejected by the major UK lenders in July.

uSwitch estimates that 16.3m consumers have an average of 2.3 credit cards they no longer use. Of those with unused credit cards, almost one in ten consumers (8%) have as many as four and 7% have between five and six. In total, these consumers have 38m credit cards that they don’t use, with a total credit limit of £200bn.

According to the BBA improved reporting for the proportion of balances bearing interest has resulted in a reduced level of 65.9% in August 2009.  Please note, however that this new level cannot be compared with previous data.

Total credit card debt in September 2009 was £54.1bn. The UK collective credit limit on credit cards is £158bn, which is an average credit card limit of £5,129 per person.

The average interest rate on credit card lending is currently 18.24%, which is 17.74% above base rate (0.5%).

There were 146.3m debit, credit or charge cards in circulation in the UK at the end of 2008 according to APACS. An average 254 plastic card purchases were made in the UK every second during Q2 2009 using debit and credit cards (equal to £12,113 /second). 94 cash withdrawals were made every second (equal to £6,139 / second) from UK’s 63,678 cash machines during Q2 2009.

There are more credit cards in the UK than people according to APACS. At the end of 2008 there were 71.3m credit and charge cards in the UK compared with around 60 million people in the country.

Unemployment for 18 to 24 year olds was 743,000 (17.7%) in the three months to August 2009, up 17,000 from the three months to May 2009. Unemployment for 16 to 17 year olds stood at 203,000 (33.0%).

TUC analysis of official Government statistics shows that more than one in three (39%) unemployed young people       aged 16-24 have now been out of work for more than six months. The last time so many young people were long-term unemployed was 15 years ago, in October 1994.

Research from Sainsbury’s Finance highlights that over half of undergraduate students (53%) in the UK are to be given financial assistance by their parents to see them through the financial burden of university.  The average amount of parental financial support given to undergraduates is £8,070 per student during their university life. 

The proportion of 16-18 year olds not in education, employment or training (NEET) increased from 9.7% at end 2007 to 11.9% (233,000) at the end of Q2 2009. The proportion of 18-24 year olds not in education, employment or training (NEET) was 17.6% (835,000) at the end of Q2 2009.

The UK's largest survey of student finance, published by Push.co.uk, reveals that students who started at university last year can expect to owe nearly £21,200 by the time they leave and new students should reckon on at least £2,000 more than that.

At February 2009, there were 12.4 million people of state pension age claiming a DWP benefit, an increase of 207,000 since February 2008. Of these, 66% were claiming State Pension only.

The number of people aged 50+ out of work has risen to 371‚000‚ which is a rise of 3.1% (11‚000) over the last quarter and 43.8% (113‚000) over last year. The number of people over state pension age in work continues to rise – with an increase of 41,000 in the three months to the end of August to 1.4 million, a rise of 77,000 (5.8%) over the previous year.

Scottish Widows estimates that one in six (15%) retired people in the UK have an outstanding mortgage, with an average debt of £50,100. They also estimate that a third (34%) are in the red on loans and credit cards and the average outstanding non mortgage debt amongst retired people with debt is £7,344.

More than one in 10 workers (16%) who have a pension say that during the past five years they have reduced the amount they contribute or have stopped saving into it altogether, according to the Prudential.

MGM Advantage research suggests that 35% of over 55s who are still at work – around 1.85 million people – are now resigned to working longer than anticipated in order to replenish their pension pots while waiting for the stock market to deliver better returns. 23% of over 55s have resolved to work beyond the State retirement age of 65 with no final retirement plan in mind after seeing their pension funds decimated by the credit crunch and subsequent recession.

On average someone who requires care in a residential care home may expect to pay in the region of £25,000 per annum.

There are more people of state pensionable age than under-16s. There were 11.5 million people aged under 16 in mid-2008 compared to 11.8 million people above state pensionable age.

According to the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) the average house price in the UK in August 2009 now stands at £196,510 (£201,801 in England).

UK annual house price inflation fell by – 5.6%.

Annual house price inflation in London fell by – 5.4%.

The average Mortgage Interest rate is 3.58%.

The average Mortgage Interest rate is 3.58%.

UK house prices will not reach their autumn 2007 peaks for at least another five years, according to the Ernst & Young ITEM Club. They also expect that house prices will fall again in the first half of 2010.

Detailed figures of the country’s wealth show that the most valuable asset continues to be housing with a total value of £3,923 billion. This is equivalent to 56% of the nation’s wealth, and is down 9% on the previous year. The value of housing stock belonging to the household and non-profit organisations sector was worth £3,693 billion a decrease of £384m in 12 months.

According to data from the Bank of England 20% of all applications for mortgages for house purchase by major UK lenders were rejected in August 2009.

Council of Mortgage Lenders research suggests that about 900,000 home-owners currently have some degree of negative equity, although the majority of these - around two thirds - face only modest shortfalls of less than 10% (equating to around £6,000 for those first-time buyers with negative equity, and £8,000 for other home-buyers). A further 565,000 homeowners have just 5% equity, and in total an estimated two million UK mortgage borrowers would not be able to raise a 10% deposit from their equity should they decide to sell their house.

John Charcol estimate there are another ½m with equity only between 10% and 15% which means in total that there are about 2½m households who can’t move (unless they sell up and rent).

Gross mortgage lending totalled an estimated £12.5 billion in September, a 2% rise from the £12.3 billion in August but down 27% from September 2008, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

Halifax said house prices rose by 1.6% in September. This was the third consecutive monthly increase and the fifth so far in 2009. The UK average house price in September was 1.7% (£2,672) higher than at the end of 2008. Prices have risen by 5.9% since reaching a trough in April 2009; an increase in the average price of just over £9,000. The national average price is currently at a similar level to that in mid 2005.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said that a lack of supply is still underpinning the house price recovery. The seasonally adjusted net balance of Chartered Surveyors reporting rises rather than falls in house prices reached a positive reading of 22% in September, up from 10% in August - this is the highest result since May 2007 when the net balance was 25%. There were an average of 18 completed sales per surveyor during the last 3 months.

Rightmove said average asking prices had there largest October rise for 6 years as balance of power continues swing towards new sellers, pushing average Autumn asking prices up by 2.8% (£6,188). Lack of fresh stock is the driving factor behind this record high, with 16,808 properties coming to the market this month, failing to keep pace with the 19,890 coming off.

According to the National Association of Estate Agents the number of house hunters registered per branch increased from 238 in August to 294 in September; the number of sales agreed per branch increased from an average of eight (7.6) in August to nine (8.5) in September and the average number of properties available for sale per branch fell from 64 in August to 62 in September.

House purchase mortgage approval numbers in September were 42,088 which were 76.8% higher than a year ago. The average loan approved for house purchase in September was £137,300, some 7.1% higher than a year earlier.

Existing home sales across the United States (including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops) rose 9.2% year on year in September 2009 and the average price dropped 8.5% year on year to $174,900. RealtyTrac® said there were a total of 343,638 foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — were reported on  U.S. properties in September 2009, a 4% decrease in total properties from last month and an 29% increase in total properties from September 2008. The report also shows that one in 136 of all U.S. housing units received at least one foreclosure filing in Q3 2009.

The average house price in the UK in August 2009 for first time buyers now stands at £142,881 which is an annual decrease of – 6.6%.

Research conducted by the National Landlords Association (NLA), reveals nearly three quarters of landlords have experienced rental arrears. Worryingly, 43% of these occurred in the last 12 months.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said in the 3 months to July 2009 that growth in demand for rental property slowed but growth in new landlord instructions slowed even more so. Rents continue to decline but at a slower pace and rental expectations improve markedly though they remain slightly negative. The percentage of landlords planning to sell properties at the expiry of leases remains unchanged at 1.8%.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) estimate that around 80% of first-time buyers aged under 30 are likely to be receiving help from parents as they are unlikely to have been able to build up the deposits needed to enter the market from their own resources.

The typical first-time buyer deposit in August was 25% (£38,195). The average first-time buyer borrowed 3.03 times their income and the average first-time buyer loan was £114,583.

There were 29,400 buy-to-let mortgages in arrears of three months or more at the end of June 2009 (2.49% of all buy-to-let mortgages), down 17% from 35,600 in the previous quarter. And the number of mortgages in arrears of more than 1.5% of the balance outstanding fell 20% from 28,800 at the end of April to 22,900 (1.94%). 

Around 1,400 buy-to-let mortgaged properties were taken into possession (0.12%) and there were 2,500 receivers newly appointed in the quarter, down from 2,900 in the previous quarter.

The number of households without bank accounts has been cut by half. The latest report on access to banking by the Financial Inclusion Taskforce shows that the number has fallen from 2 million in 2003/04 to less than 900,000 in 2007/08. The proportion of low-income households without a bank account has fallen sharply in recent years, from 20–25 per cent in the mid-1990s to 4 per cent in 2007–08

In a disturbing reflection of attitudes towards planning and financial literacy in the UK, more than a quarter of Brits are relying on winning the Lottery to help improve their financial situation. This is compared to just one in 20 who will seek professional help to improve their finances, according to a YouGov survey commissioned for Financial Planning Week 2009. The survey also found that:

• More than half of Brits said they were struggling to some degree to keep up with bills and credit commitments at the moment. However, on a positive note, only five per cent were actually falling behind.
• 43% of people often or sometimes struggle to make it to the next payday.
• Only a quarter of people (26%) have a budget they follow regularly
• Only 31% have made a Will, with 49% of those without one saying it’s because they’ve just not got round to doing it yet

63% of the population are more aware of their finances and are making an increased effort to look after their accounts as a result of the credit crunch, according to research by NS&I. Almost half (48%) of these people, who are focusing more attention on their finances, state now that they know exactly how much money they have in all of their accounts. This is true for nearly half (46%) of the total population. A further third (33%) know roughly how much money they have in their bank account and in savings, give or take £50. Whether people know exactly what their financial situation is seems to be affected by both age and gender. Older age groups are more likely to be sure of their financial state of affairs with 60% of over 65 year-olds sure of the exact amounts in their current and savings accounts compared to 38% of the 16-24 age group and 41% of 25–34 year-olds

The FSA has published research which indicates that an improvement in financial capability leads to an improvement in psychological well-being.  The results of the research suggest that moving from low to average levels of financial capability increases psychological wellbeing by over 5%, and decreases anxiety and depression by 15%.  The precision of such statistics are of course always open to question, but the positive trends and the relative scores are significant.  For example, the research also concluded that the increase in life satisfaction from increased financial capability is 12 times greater than the impact of earning an extra £1,000 a year.

Research, commissioned by price comparison website moneysupermarket.com revealed, on average, those in employment hang on for 27 days before going into their overdraft. The survey also showed over 10 million were overdrawn at least once in the past 12 months, including 2.1 million people who never come out of their overdraft. 5% of 45 to 54 year old workers were permanently overdrawn as against 15% of 18 to 24 year old employees

Vacant retail premises are forecast to more than double, from 7% at the start of 2009 to around 15% by the year end. Some town centres already record vacancy rates of almost 40%. One in every eight households (nearly 3m people) has someone who works in retail.

UK homeowners with a mortgage have seen their spending power rise by a tenth over the past year, according to research by Halifax. Between March 2008 and March 2009, the average monthly discretionary income of households with a mortgage rose from £892 to £989, an increase of 11% (£97). Private renters have seen their typical monthly discretionary income remain broadly flat over the past year, rising by just 0.3% (£3) between March 2008 and 2009 from £801 to £804.

Sun Life Direct's annual total cost of dying survey has revealed that on average a funeral will cost £2,733 whilst the additional extras could result in a total bill of £7,098 as the cost of probate, funerals and other costs, such as flowers and wakes, increase.

The annual survey from Liverpool Victoria on the Cost of a Child shows that parents could spend £193,772 on raising a child from birth to the age of 21. This is equivalent to £9,227 a year, £769 a month or £25 a day.

Weddingplan estimates that couples looking to get married in 2009 can expect to pay a huge £21,089 on their big day.

The average family car now costs £6,133 a year to keep on the road, an increase of 19% (£1000) year-on-year.

Brits will spend more than £1.7billion on cat and dog food this year according to M&S Money. Last year £1.7billion was spent on feeding the nation's 14.5 million cats and dogs.

TNS Omnibus found that 32% of people made redundant would fail to meet their current living expenses in the first month, with one in six defaulting immediately. Less than half (43%) of working adults questioned had sufficient funds in place to survive more than three months.

The average saver has increased the amount they put away each month by 26% according to research by Abbey Savings. Savers are now putting away £206 each month on average, compared with £163 at the beginning of the year. However, the effects of the recession are still being felt by many, with the research showing a 6% fall in the overall number of people saving since the start of the year. Four out of 10 Britons still save nothing at all, while 26% of those who are saving claim to be saving less now than they were last year - an increase of 6% since May 2009, perhaps driven by rising unemployment.

This quarter the monthly amount saved per head across the population declined slightly from £92.41 in spring 2009 to
£90.73 in summer 2009 according to the NS&I’s Quarterly Savings Survey. The average amount saved as a percentage of income fell to 6.65% this quarter from 6.83% in spring 2009, despite an increase in the average monthly take-home income.

81% of Britons say they never argue about money with their partner. 52% of couples who argue over finances say their arguments are based on how much they are spending; the small purchases as well as the more substantial outgoings

31% of savers don’t think they have enough money to cope in an emergency. In real figures, this equates to over 15 million people.