Credit Card Debt per head of Population
- UK Credit card debt per head of population
- 1994 Total of: £9,453,209,396 = £163.38 per person
- 2004 Total of: £60,951,509,687 = £1,018.66 per person
- 2008 Total of: £65,580,040,237 = £1,068.37 per person. (3.94% of average Annual wage)
- 654% growth since 1994 (based on per population figure)
. - Australia Credit card debt per head of population
- 1994 Total of: $5,267,000,000 = $293.40, per person
- 2004 Total of: $25,716,000,000 = $1,269.79 per person
- 2008 Total of: $40,029,000,000 = $1,860.28 per person. (2.81% of average Annual wage)
- 634% growth since 1994 (based on per population figure)
Using an average of A$2 to the £ this works out at about:
- UK: A$2,136 credit card debt per man, woman and child in UK
- Aus: A$1,860 credit card debt per man, woman and child in Australia
Historical Credit Card Debt Figures
Australian Credit Card Debt changes between 1994 and 2009:
- Oct-94 $5,267,000,000
- Oct-95 $6,080,000,000
- Oct-96 $7,139,000,000
- Oct-97 $8,189,000,000
- Oct-98 $9,558,000,000
- Oct-99 $11,819,000,000
- Oct-00 $14,312,000,000
- Oct-01 $17,020,000,000
- Oct-02 $20,123,000,000
- Oct-03 $22,721,000,000
- Oct-04 $25,716,000,000
- Oct-05 $29,396,000,000
- Oct-06 $34,226,000,000
- Oct-07 $37,554,000,000
- Oct-08 $40,029,000,000 : This equals a 760% growth from the 1994 figure (based on Gross Total figure)
- Oct-09 $41,127,000,000
The above data was extrapolated from this RBA spreadsheet: http://www.rba.gov.au/payments-system/resources/statistics/rps.xls
United Kingdom Credit Card Debt changes between 1994 and 2009:
- Oct – 1994 £9,453,209,396
- Oct – 1995 £11,243,654,654
- Oct – 1996 £14,398,680,746
- Oct – 1997 £18,164,900,258
- Oct – 1998 £22,884,344,616
- Oct – 1999 £28,040,208,858
- Oct – 2000 £33,604,678,070
- Oct – 2001 £38,196,936,084
- Oct – 2002 £45,198,419,247
- Oct – 2003 £52,907,070,507
- Oct – 2004 £60,951,509,687
- Oct – 2005 £66,090,625,032
- Oct – 2006 £65,257,135,933
- Oct – 2007 £64,221,709,742
- Oct – 2008 £65,580,040,237 : This equals a 694% growth from the 1994 figure (based on Gross Total figure)
Credit outstanding fell by £1.1 billion in July 2009 (partly reflecting a write-off of accumulated debt by one institution) to stand at £62.6 billion, some £2.6 billion lower than a year earlier.
The proportion of balances bearing interest changed from 71.9% in Oct 1995 to 73.2% in Oct 2008.
The above UK data was sourced from http://www.bba.org.uk/bba/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=470&a=16488
Population figures used were:
UK population
- 1994 57,862,000
- 2004 59,835,000
- 2008 61,383,000
Australia Population
- 1994 17,951,481
- 2004 20,252,132
- 2008 21,517,786
UK Credit Card Debt
Jan 2009 :
The average UK adult owns nearly 2.5 credit cards and has debts on those approaching £2,300
www.bbc.co.uk/northamptonshire/content/articles/2009/01/27/raw_money_feature.shtml
Australian Credit Card Debt
July 2009 :
The average Australian credit card balance in July 2009 was $3,106
www.smh.com.au/business/credit-card-debt-falls-at-fastest-rate-in-14-years-20090917-fssg.html
American Credit Card Debt
December 2008 :
The average American household with a credit card held $10,679 in credit card debt at the end of 2008.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8009299.stm
However, some sources quote: “60% of U.S. consumers always (or usually) pay off their bills in full each month”
The above indicates that the UK has about 33% higher average credit card debts than Australia, but the USA has about 330% higher than Australia.