Everyday in the UK
Personal Debt in the UK
The population of the UK shrunk by an estimated 1,815 people a day between mid-year 2022 and mid-year 2023.
- On average, a UK household spends £5.25 a day on water, electricity, and gas.
- 319 people a day were declared insolvent or bankrupt in England and Wales in the three months to May 2025. This was equivalent to one person every 4 minutes and 31 seconds.
- In Northern Ireland in the three months to March 2025, there were 4.5 insolvencies per day. In Scotland in the three months to March 2025 there was 18.9 insolvencies per day.
- Citizens Advice Bureaux in England and Wales dealt with 1,252 debt issues every day in the year to May 2025.
- 13.6 properties were repossessed every day in January to March 2025 in the UK, or one every 1 hours and 46 minutes.
- The number of UK mortgages with arrears of over 2.5% of the remaining balance fell by 17.2 a day in the year to March 2025.
- The number of people unemployed in the UK increased by 316 per day in the twelve months to April 2025.
- 1100 people a day reported they had become redundant in February 2025 to April 2025.
- Net lending to individuals and housing associations in the UK increased by £1.7 million a day in April 2025.
- Government debt increased by £519 million a day in the year to May 2025.
- Borrowers paid £231 million a day in interest in April 2025.
- It costs an average of £39.54 per day for a couple to raise a child from birth to the age of 18.
- For a lone parent family, the cost of raising a child comes to £44.23 per day.
- 75 mortgage possession claims and 51 mortgage possession orders were made every day in England and Wales in January to March 2025.
- 266 landlord possession claims and 208 landlord possession orders were made every day.
Arising from the current climate
The UK has experienced significant turmoil over the past five years. The pandemic, cost of living and energy crises, high interest rates and the economic policies of the new US administration have affected the lives and finances of many people across the UK. Last month we featured the possible impacts of Trump’s tariffs on prices in the UK. This month we look at the uncertainty currently affecting the UK economy, with money statistics both positive and negative, leaving the Bank of England unsure when and how far to lower the base rate of interest.
Positives:
- The volume of retail sales in Great Britain grew by 1.2% in April, and by 0.8% in the three months to May 2025 (ONS)
- The UK Services Purchasing Managers Index increased to 50.9 in May (readings above 50 indicate growth) suggesting that services businesses were recovering from April’s Trump tariff shock (S&P Global)
- The Government has announced that it will pay the winter fuel payment to all pensioners with incomes up to £35,000 per year (around nine million pensioners in total) for the winter of 2025-26 (Gov.UK)
- The Energy Price Cap is set to fall by 7% on 1 July 2025, reducing average annual energy costs by £129 per year (MoneySavingExpert)
- GDP is estimated to have grown by 0.7% in the three months to April (ONS, see page 19)
- The Bank of England reduced the base rate of interest from 4.5% to 4.25% in May 2025 (Bank of England)
- UK GDP is forecast to increase by 1.0-1.4% in 2025 (Bank of England, IMF, OECD, Conference Board)
Negatives:
- Inflation continued to be higher than the Bank of England target, at 3.4% in the year to May (ONS, see page 19)
- GDP fell by 0.3% in April (ONS, see page 19), while unemployment rose (see page 20)
- Average house prices fell by 2.7% in April (ONS) (This is negative in the sense that it indicates uncertainty, though good news for first time buyers)
(Sources: Reuters, The Guardian, Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), Bank of England, The Resolution Foundation, National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR), House of Commons Library)
Statistics Source: http//www.themoneycharity.org.uk
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