Borrowing estimates for Cornwall, built from published survey rates and population figures.
410,000
Credit or loan holders
An estimated 410,000 adults in Cornwall held at least one credit or loan product in 2024.
Source: Estimate from FCA Financial Lives 2024 and ONS mid-2024 population estimates, Borrowing Data, 2024
Estimate: 86% of adults in the South West held at least one credit or loan product (FCA Financial Lives 2024, adults aged 18 and over) applied to 476,737 adults aged 18 and over in Cornwall (ONS mid-2024 population estimates, single-year ages summed).
334,000
Credit card holders
An estimated 334,000 adults in Cornwall held a credit card in 2024.
Source: Estimate from FCA Financial Lives 2024 and ONS mid-2024 population estimates, Borrowing Data, 2024
Estimate: 70% of adults in the South West held a credit card (FCA Financial Lives 2024, adults aged 18 and over) applied to 476,737 adults aged 18 and over in Cornwall (ONS mid-2024 population estimates, single-year ages summed).
95,300
Overdraft users
An estimated 95,300 adults in Cornwall were overdrawn on a current account in 2024.
Source: Estimate from FCA Financial Lives 2024 and ONS mid-2024 population estimates, Borrowing Data, 2024
Estimate: 20% of adults in the South West were overdrawn on a current account (FCA Financial Lives 2024, adults aged 18 and over) applied to 476,737 adults aged 18 and over in Cornwall (ONS mid-2024 population estimates, single-year ages summed).
143,000
Residential mortgage holders
An estimated 143,000 adults in Cornwall had a residential mortgage in 2024.
Source: Estimate from FCA Financial Lives 2024 and ONS mid-2024 population estimates, Borrowing Data, 2024
Estimate: 30% of adults in the South West had a residential mortgage (FCA Financial Lives 2024, adults aged 18 and over) applied to 476,737 adults aged 18 and over in Cornwall (ONS mid-2024 population estimates, single-year ages summed).
76,300
Buy now, pay later users
An estimated 76,300 adults in Cornwall used buy now, pay later credit in 2024.
Source: Estimate from FCA Financial Lives 2024 and ONS mid-2024 population estimates, Borrowing Data, 2024
Estimate: 16% of adults in the South West used buy now, pay later credit (FCA Financial Lives 2024, adults aged 18 and over) applied to 476,737 adults aged 18 and over in Cornwall (ONS mid-2024 population estimates, single-year ages summed).
24,800
High-cost credit users
An estimated 24,800 adults in Cornwall held high-cost credit in 2024.
Source: Estimate from FCA Financial Lives 2024 and ONS mid-2024 population estimates, Borrowing Data, 2024
Estimate: 5.2% of adults in the South West held high-cost credit (FCA Financial Lives 2024, adults aged 18 and over) applied to 476,737 adults aged 18 and over in Cornwall (ONS mid-2024 population estimates, single-year ages summed).
100,000
Low financial resilience
An estimated 100,000 adults in Cornwall had low financial resilience in 2024.
Source: Estimate from FCA Financial Lives 2024 and ONS mid-2024 population estimates, Borrowing Data, 2024
Estimate: 21% of adults in the South West had low financial resilience (FCA Financial Lives 2024, adults aged 18 and over) applied to 476,737 adults aged 18 and over in Cornwall (ONS mid-2024 population estimates, single-year ages summed).
23,800
In financial difficulty
An estimated 23,800 adults in Cornwall were in financial difficulty in 2024.
Source: Estimate from FCA Financial Lives 2024 and ONS mid-2024 population estimates, Borrowing Data, 2024
Estimate: 5% of adults in the South West were in financial difficulty (FCA Financial Lives 2024, adults aged 18 and over) applied to 476,737 adults aged 18 and over in Cornwall (ONS mid-2024 population estimates, single-year ages summed).
493,268
Residents aged 16 and over
The estimated population aged 16 and over in Cornwall was 493,268 at mid-2025.
Source: Population estimates - local authority based by single year of age (Nomis NM_2002_1), mid-year estimates, Office for National Statistics, 30 June 2025
ONS mid-2025 population estimates (published 29 July 2026 for England and Wales; Scotland and Northern Ireland as carried in the same Nomis table), local authority boundaries as of April 2023, usual residents, as returned by the Nomis 'Aged 16+' category.