The Money Statistics, June 2016

1. Context
2. The study
3. Key findings
4. Points to consider

Context

Each month, the Money Charity publishes a broad range of statistics on the UK’s use of money, debt and the wider economy. The statistics are intended for non-commercial use by any organisation or individual.

The study

The report describes statistics which have been produced by the authors’ own analyses and other statistics collated from external sources. The statistics cover individual and households living in the United Kingdom. They cover key aspects of personal debt, mortgages, housing and rent, savings and pensions and spending and loans as well as the wider context (e.g. population, unemployment) and include highlights for the month and striking numbers. As this is a collation of a range of statistics, research questions are not explicitly stated, however the statistics are set out clearer by category. The statistics are intended to inform a wide range of organisation’s needs and are commissioned and produced by The Money Charity, a leading financial capability charity in the UK.

Key findings

• Personal debt: The total UK personal debt owed at the end of April was £1.475 trillion including £183.2 billion in outstanding consumer credit (or £3,629 per adult); in Q1, UK banks and building societies wrote £6.9m off per day and there were 20,382 individual insolvencies (in England and Wales).
• Mortgages, housing and rent: Total outstanding mortgage lending was up £1.264m on the year at the end of April, at £1.292 trillion; gross mortgage lending was 16 per cent higher; house prices rose; an estimated 6,600 owner-occupied homes were taken into possession in the year to March; private rental prices for GB rose by 2.6% in the year to February; the rate of private renting is at its highest since the 1960s.
• Savings and pensions: In 2015, households saved an average of 4.2% of their income, the lowest since records began; 36% of households have no savings; latest figures, for 2013/14 show that 52% of employees, and 17% of the self-employed actively participated in a pension.
• Spending and loans: In Q3 2015, UK households spent an average of £3.78 per day on water, electricity and gas; it is estimated to cost 51.60 pence per mile to run a car and £231,843 to raise a child to their 21st birthday; in April 2016, the average APR for a £5,000 personal loan was 9.24%, for an overdraft it was 19.67%, and for a credit card the interest rate was 18.46% in March.
• The wider context: the UK economy grew by 0.4% in the first quarter of 2016; annual inflation (Consumer Prices Index) was lower in the year to April 0.3%; GB unemployment stood at 5.1% in the three months to January and was highest in North East England (7.8%).
• Striking numbers: These include that: net lending to individuals increased by £53 million a day; 9.61m households have no savings; public sector net borrowing stood at £7.2 billion in April.

Points to consider

• Methodological strengths or limitations: Sources are generally cited clearly, as are the reference populations (e.g. UK, GB, England and Wales). By their very nature, however, the reference period or point for the statistics varies considerably. It is not always clear whether percentage change stated refers to percentage or percentage point change.
• Relevance and applicability: Being published each month, this is a very timely and topical source of information for potentially wide-ranging organisations. Statistics are presented in a range of ways, which reflect a wide range of usages of the statistics and provide an insightful and impactful way of understanding the statistics. They can be used wholesale by other organisation, assuming they are not used for financial gain and the authors are acknowledged at the source.

Full report

The money statistics, June 2016 - full report