The percentage of North West households with financial debt fell from 53% between April 2014 and March 2016 to 46% between April 2020 and March 2022 according to data released by the Office for National Statistics.
According to these figures, between 2020 and 2022, the percentage of households in the North West with financial debt was the second lowest of any region in the UK after London.
The capital city was also the only other region in which the percentage of households with financial debt fell in this period.
A decrease in the percentage of households with ‘problem debt’ in the North West was also seen, as this figure went from 6% to 4%, although the ONS advises some caution with the latter statistic due to the small sample size.
Notes provided on the survey’s methodology recognised definitions of ‘problem debt’ would be subjective, but used a number of factors to identify it.
These included whether debt repayments were the equivalent of more than a quarter of monthly income, or whether the total debt amounted to more than a fifth of net annual income.
The research excluded longer term loans like mortgages or student loans from the problem debt category.
Respondents were also asked how financially burdensome it was to keep up with repayments.
In the North West, 14% of individuals with debt between March 2020 and April 2022 considered it a heavy burden, while 61% said the repayments weren’t a problem at all.
Feature image by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash
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