Consumer credit figures for the United Kingdom, from the Financial Conduct Authority, the Bank of England, the Money and Pensions Service and the Finance and Leasing Association.
In 2024, 84 per cent of adults in the United Kingdom held at least one credit or loan product (now or in the previous 12 months).
Source: Financial Lives 2024 survey: Annex A (Product holdings), Financial Conduct Authority, 2024
Survey estimate, base all UK adults; fieldwork 5 February to 16 June 2024; Includes regulated and unregulated credit
The 12-month growth rate of consumer credit lending to individuals, excluding student loans, was 9.8 per cent in the United Kingdom in September 2026.
Source: Monthly 12 month growth rate of total (excluding the Student Loans Company) sterling net consumer credit lending to individuals (in percent) seasonally adjusted, Bank of England, September 2026
Seasonally adjusted.
In 2024, 6.4 per cent of adults in the United Kingdom held high-cost credit (now or in the previous 12 months).
Source: Financial Lives 2024 survey: Annex A (Product holdings), Financial Conduct Authority, 2024
Survey estimate, base all UK adults; fieldwork 5 February to 16 June 2024; Home-collected, logbook, pawnbroking, payday, rent-to-own, short-term instalment and guarantor loans; 2024 definition applied to earlier waves (Annex A footnote 7)
In 2024, 1.6 per cent of adults in the United Kingdom held a payday loan (now or in the previous 12 months).
Source: Financial Lives 2024 survey: Annex A (Product holdings), Financial Conduct Authority, 2024
Survey estimate, base all UK adults; fieldwork 5 February to 16 June 2024
In 2024, 2.5 per cent of adults in the United Kingdom held a short-term instalment loan (now or in the previous 12 months).
Source: Financial Lives 2024 survey: Annex A (Product holdings), Financial Conduct Authority, 2024
Survey estimate, base all UK adults; fieldwork 5 February to 16 June 2024
In 2024, 0.6 per cent of adults in the United Kingdom held a home-collected loan (now or in the previous 12 months).
Source: Financial Lives 2024 survey: Annex A (Product holdings), Financial Conduct Authority, 2024
Survey estimate, base all UK adults; fieldwork 5 February to 16 June 2024
In 2024, 1.9 per cent of adults in the United Kingdom held rent-to-own finance (now or in the previous 12 months).
Source: Financial Lives 2024 survey: Annex A (Product holdings), Financial Conduct Authority, 2024
Survey estimate, base all UK adults; fieldwork 5 February to 16 June 2024; Rent-to-own was combined with other hire purchase in 2017 and is not shown for that wave
In 2024, 19% of UK adults surveyed often used a credit card, overdraft or borrowing to buy food or pay bills when they had run short of money.
Source: MoneyView 2025: How people in the UK feel about money, Money and Pensions Service, 2024
Survey of 12,534 adults interviewed July to October 2024 (analysis base 12,354). Published as the share 'borrowing for the everyday'; 2018 and 2021 from earlier surveys.
New consumer finance business written by reporting lenders was 5% higher in the United Kingdom in the 12 months to August 2026 than in the 12 months to August 2025.
Source: Consumer finance new business grew by 3% in August 2026, Finance and Leasing Association, 12 months to August 2026
Published percentage change on the same period a year earlier; Lending by FLA members only; the table gives no geography (UK per publisher).
Non-bank lenders provided 43.4% of new consumer lending among reporting lenders in the United Kingdom in 2025.
Source: The Hidden Engine Behind UK Growth: FLA Impact Report 2026, Finance and Leasing Association, 2025
Impact report page 5 ("FLA members' impact in numbers: 2025"); FLA members' lending only; figure as laid out on the page; the March 2026 total-lending release gives £2 billion from non-bank lenders for 2025, which does not square with this share, so definitions may differ
The amount outstanding of consumer credit lending to individuals, excluding student loans, was £261,200 million in the United Kingdom at the end of September 2026.
Source: Monthly amounts outstanding of total (excluding the Student Loans Company) sterling consumer credit lending to individuals (in sterling millions) seasonally adjusted, Bank of England, September 2026
Seasonally adjusted.
Net consumer credit lending to individuals, excluding student loans, was £1,914 million in the United Kingdom in September 2026.
Source: Monthly changes of total (excluding the Student Loans Company) sterling net consumer credit lending to individuals (in sterling millions) seasonally adjusted, Bank of England, September 2026
Seasonally adjusted.
Gross consumer credit lending to individuals, excluding student loans, was £37,392 million in the United Kingdom in September 2026.
Source: Monthly changes of total (excluding the Student Loans Company) sterling consumer credit gross lending to individuals (in sterling millions) seasonally adjusted, Bank of England, September 2026
Seasonally adjusted.
New consumer finance business written by reporting lenders was £126,020 million in the United Kingdom in the 12 months to August 2026.
Source: Consumer finance new business grew by 3% in August 2026, Finance and Leasing Association, 12 months to August 2026
Lending by FLA members only; the table gives no geography (UK per publisher).
New retail store and online credit business written by reporting lenders was £9,177 million in the United Kingdom in the 12 months to August 2026.
Source: Consumer finance new business grew by 3% in August 2026, Finance and Leasing Association, 12 months to August 2026
Lending by FLA members only; the table gives no geography (UK per publisher).
In 2024, an estimated 45,665,444 adults in the United Kingdom held at least one credit or loan product (now or in the previous 12 months).
Source: Financial Lives 2024 survey: Annex A (Product holdings), Financial Conduct Authority, 2024
Gross weighted estimate of UK adults; fieldwork 5 February to 16 June 2024; Includes regulated and unregulated credit
In 2024, an estimated 3,456,000 adults in the United Kingdom held high-cost credit (now or in the previous 12 months).
Source: Financial Lives 2024 survey: Annex A (Product holdings), Financial Conduct Authority, 2024
Gross weighted estimate of UK adults; fieldwork 5 February to 16 June 2024; Home-collected, logbook, pawnbroking, payday, rent-to-own, short-term instalment and guarantor loans; 2024 definition applied to earlier waves (Annex A footnote 7)
Credit union loans to members totalled £2,590.102 million in the United Kingdom at the end of the second quarter of 2026.
Source: Credit union quarterly statistics - 2026-Q2, Balance sheet, Bank of England, Q2 2026
Not seasonally adjusted. Source table is in £ thousands, shown to the nearest £ thousand (2,590,102 thousand); converted by moving the decimal point. Value taken from the 2026-Q2 release, the latest holding this quarter.
In 2022, 83 per cent of adults in the United Kingdom held at least one credit or loan product (now or in the previous 12 months).
Source: Financial Lives 2024 survey: Annex A (Product holdings), Financial Conduct Authority, 2022
Survey estimate, base all UK adults; fieldwork 1 February to 6 June 2022; Includes regulated and unregulated credit
In 2024, 84 per cent of adults in the United Kingdom held at least one credit or loan product (now or in the previous 12 months). The 12-month growth rate of consumer credit lending to individuals, excluding student loans, was 9.8 per cent in the United Kingdom in September 2026. In 2024, 6.4 per cent of adults in the United Kingdom held high-cost credit (now or in the previous 12 months).
In 2024, 84 per cent of adults in the United Kingdom held at least one credit or loan product (now or in the previous 12 months).
The 12-month growth rate of consumer credit lending to individuals, excluding student loans, was 9.8 per cent in the United Kingdom in September 2026.
In 2024, 6.4 per cent of adults in the United Kingdom held high-cost credit (now or in the previous 12 months).