According to a NimbleFins analysis of data from the Bank of England, the average UK household consumer debt (e.g. personal loans and credit cards) reached £8,304 at the end of 2025 - plus households owe another £10,088 in student loans on average and those with a mortgage owe another £197,811 on average on their homes. In this article, NimbleFins data experts break down data from the Office of National Statistics and the Bank of England to identify trends in debt levels and understand how debt levels change across different demographics like age and gender.

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Average Household Debt by Category

Heading into 2026, average total UK household debt excluding mortgages was around £18,392 - an increase of 98% over ten years. That means household debt levels have doubled in a decade.

Credit card debt is up 13% in the ten years to 2025, having reached an all-time high of £2,606 per household seven years ago, which again was reached (£2,601) in 2025. To calculate these measures, we analyzed debt data from the Bank of England and population data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for the most reliable measure of consumer indebtedness in the country.

Most of a UK household's debt is home loans - if they have a mortgage. The average UK mortgage debt per household is now £197,811, of households with a mortgage.

Of non-mortgage lending, 15% of lending is in the form of credit card balances (£2,601 average), 55% is student loans (£10,088 average) and 31% are other personal loans (£5,703 average). Below, you can see how debt levels continue to rise for UK households - we've analysed debt levels including mortgages, and also debt levels without mortgages.

Average Mortgage

The average home loan per household, of the households that have a mortgage, is now £197,811 - an increase of 28% in ten years. According to ONS data, 29% of households now carry a mortgage.

Average Personal Loans

The average personal loan amount per household in the UK was roughly £5,703 in 2025 (excluding student loans) - a record high (even higher than post 2018 financial crisis). These figures includes loans like personal installment loans, home renovation loans, and auto loans - but not credit card lending. Somewhat like credit cards, personal loans have been a popular way of financing one's needs in recent years. As you can see in the chart below, there's been a rapid rise in education loans over the past ten years - nearly a 4-fold increase.

Average Credit Card Debt

Credit card lending is rising again, but still remains just below the highs seen six years ago. In 2024, credit card debt of UK households was approximately £2,489 according to NimbleFins analysis of data from the Bank of England and the Office for National Statistics - but the team estimates this figure had risen to £2,572 by February 2025. The "mean amount of credit card debt" considers balances that individuals above the age of 18 have on average, throughout the year. Credit card balances left on credit builder cards can be especially problematic due to higher interest rates.

Average Debt across Demographics

Average debt can vary significantly across different demographics in the UK, for instance by income, age, and gender. We have analyzed ONS data (i.e. debt data from the most recent Wealth and Assets Survey and income decile data from the Family Spending report) so you can see trends and differences across these segments. For the purposes of this analysis, "average debt" refers to unsecured financial liabilities like credit card debt and personal loans, and does not include secured debt, e.g., mortgages. In the following sections we explore these differences to see how average debt varies among the population.

Note, the following two sections uses data that was released in 2025, but reflects the two year period ending March 2022.

Average Debt by Income

The greater the household income, the higher the outstanding debt. Individuals in the highest annual income decile (above the 90th percentile), had a median of £7,000 in financial liabilities debt - that's 3X as much as households making the least. Similarly, those with higher incomes are able to afford a larger mortgage.

Note: median values only include households that have a mortgage or other financial liabilities

Average Debt by Age

Note: this section refers to individual debt, not household debt.

Median financial debt levels (excluding mortgages) peak for individuals where the person is between 25 and 34 years old - this age group has a median non-mortgage debt level of £5,300, which means half of people in that age bracket have at least £5,300 of financial debt, and the other half has less than £5,300 of financial debt.

Households over 65 years old held the least debt, as you can see below. They owe 74% less than the 25 to 34 year old age bracket.

To the extent that your spending outpaces your income, it can help to find ways to save money on common budget busters. For example, see our tips to reduce spending on Christmas, save money on takeaways, etc.

If you find yourself struggling to pay back your outstanding debt, you may want to get free debt advice from organizations including the National Debtline, Citizens Advice Bureau and StepChange Debt Charity.