Debt advice figures for England and Wales, from Citizens Advice.
Among people who completed a budget assessment with Citizens Advice in England and Wales, 48.6% were in a negative budget in 2024.
Source: 'One in three living on a financial knife edge', warns Citizens Advice (press release), Citizens Advice, 2024
Share of clients who completed a budget assessment; a negative budget is where essential costs exceed income.
Essential bills made up an average of 42% of total debt among people who sought help with debt from Citizens Advice in January and February 2026.
Source: Citizens Advice gives crisis support every 30 seconds as bill rises loom (press release, 26 March 2026), Citizens Advice, February 2026
Essential bills: rent, mortgage payments, council tax, energy, water, telecoms and TV licence. Equal to £3,991 per person as published. Period shown is the end month.
Among people helped by Citizens Advice, 50% reported energy debts, council tax arrears or both in 2023.
Source: One in four people behind on at least one bill, as UK households fall GBP 22 billion in the red (press release, 14 September 2023), Citizens Advice, 2023
Published in a September 2023 press release as the share of people helped reporting one or both of these debts.
Citizens Advice helped 407,416 people in England and Wales with debt problems in 2025.
Source: Citizens Advice issues stark warning as 2,670 people seek debt help every day in first week of the year (press release, 15 January 2026), Citizens Advice, 2025
Casebook (the charity's case management system) data taken on 5 January 2026 for client cases from 1 January to 31 December of the year.
Citizens Advice completed budget assessments with 14,910 clients in England and Wales in January and February 2026.
Source: Citizens Advice gives crisis support every 30 seconds as bill rises loom (press release, 26 March 2026), Citizens Advice, February 2026
Covers January and February 2026 combined (period shown is the end month).
People who sought help with debt from Citizens Advice in England and Wales had a trimmed mean total debt of £9,569 in January and February 2026.
Source: Citizens Advice gives crisis support every 30 seconds as bill rises loom (press release, 26 March 2026), Citizens Advice, February 2026
Budget assessments completed in January and February 2026 combined; total debt is a trimmed mean that removes the top and bottom 20% of values. Described as higher than any month since records began in January 2019. Period shown is the end month.
Citizens Advice helped write off an average of £16,303 in debts per person it helped in 2024-25.
Source: All our impact (2024-25), Citizens Advice, 2024/25
Published on the 'All our impact' page for 2024-25.
The average council tax debt among people who sought help from Citizens Advice in England and Wales was £1,766 in June 2026.
Source: Citizens Advice response to the consultation: Improving enforcement of council tax (30 July 2026), Citizens Advice, June 2026
As stated in the July 2026 consultation response.
Essential bills debt averaged £3,991 per person among people who sought help with debt from Citizens Advice in January and February 2026.
Source: Citizens Advice gives crisis support every 30 seconds as bill rises loom (press release, 26 March 2026), Citizens Advice, February 2026
As published alongside the 42% share. Period shown is the end month.
The average person Citizens Advice helped with debt had a monthly budget deficit of £28 at the end of the month in 2023.
Source: One in four people behind on at least one bill, as UK households fall GBP 22 billion in the red (press release, 14 September 2023), Citizens Advice, 2023
Published as '£28 in the red at the end of the month' in September 2023; four years earlier the average person helped had a £21 surplus.
Citizens Advice supported 13,365 people with debt problems in the first working week of January 2026.
Source: Citizens Advice issues stark warning as 2,670 people seek debt help every day in first week of the year (press release, 15 January 2026), Citizens Advice, January 2026
First working week of the year, 5 to 9 January 2026; data accessed 12 January 2026.
Among people who completed a budget assessment with Citizens Advice in England and Wales, 36.7% were in a negative budget in 2019.
Source: 'One in three living on a financial knife edge', warns Citizens Advice (press release), Citizens Advice, 2019
Share of clients who completed a budget assessment; a negative budget is where essential costs exceed income.
Among people who completed a budget assessment with Citizens Advice in England and Wales, 48.6% were in a negative budget in 2024. Essential bills made up an average of 42% of total debt among people who sought help with debt from Citizens Advice in January and February 2026. Among people helped by Citizens Advice, 50% reported energy debts, council tax arrears or both in 2023.
Among people who completed a budget assessment with Citizens Advice in England and Wales, 48.6% were in a negative budget in 2024.
Essential bills made up an average of 42% of total debt among people who sought help with debt from Citizens Advice in January and February 2026.
Among people helped by Citizens Advice, 50% reported energy debts, council tax arrears or both in 2023.