Making your money stretch to payday can be a challenge especially if an unexpected expense arises, which is why many of us rely on the buffer of an overdraft in our bank accounts. We look at the latest overdraft statistics in the UK.
Overdraft statistics: Highlights
30% of UK adults, an estimated 16 million Brits, went into their overdraft in July 2022.
The average UK overdraft amount per person was £219 in July 2022.
The total value of UK overdrafts averaged £3.7 billion in the first half of 2022.
Overdraft interest rates increased from 19.77% in December 2022 to 21.77% in June 2023, an increase of 2 percentage points.
Overdraft value increased by 31% or £1 billion between April and June 2022, around the time the new energy price cap was introduced.
Brits use their overdraft for the first time on the 8th day of the month on average.
How much is the average person overdrawn?
The average person in the UK who used their overdraft in July 2022 was overdrawn by £219. In comparison, in the previous month, the average person in the UK who used their overdraft was overdrawn by £255.
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An estimated 16 million Brits, or 30% of adults, went into their overdraft in July 2022.
StepChange’s latest client report found that, of the people who sought debt advice, overdraft debt declined from 34% in June 2022 to 33% in June 2023. However, clients with overdraft debt increased by 1% between May and June 2023.
Interestingly, in July 2022, the first day Britons used their overdraft was the 8th day of the month on average.
Average overdraft interest rate in the UK
The average overdraft interest rate for June 2023 was 21.8%. This was a similar rate to the previous month.
In the first half of 2023, the average interest rate on overdrafts was 21.4%. In comparison, the average overdraft interest rate for the same period in 2022 was 20.4%.
In 2022, interest rates were lowest in December 2022 at 19.8%. Overdraft interest rates remained highest in 2022 between September and November 2022, with an overall average rate of 20.8%.
In the first half of 2023, effective interest rates grew significantly. By February, overdraft interest rates were already higher than the peak for 2022. The highest interest rate was in April 2023 at 21.9%, an increase of nearly 2% from the same month in 2022.
Until December 2022, overdraft interest rates remained relatively stable, but they have fluctuated more in 2023.
The total value of UK overdrafts averaged £3.7 billion from January to July 2022. In comparison, for the same period in 2021, the value of UK overdrafts averaged £3.1 billion, an increase of 16%.
Matthew Boyle is a banking and mortgages publisher at Finder. He has a 7-year history of publishing helpful guides to assist consumers in making better decisions. In his spare time, you will find him walking in the Norfolk countryside admiring the local wildlife. See full bio
Matthew's expertise
Matthew has written 285 Finder guides across topics including:
Helping first-time buyers apply for a mortgage
Comparing bank accounts and highlighting useful features
Sophie Barber is a content marketing manager for Finder in the UK after previously working as a content manager at a digital marketing agency. She has over 5 years experience in writing and publishing clear, concise and informative online articles for a variety of websites. See full bio
Sophie's expertise
Sophie has written 77 Finder guides across topics including:
Publishing original personal finance research
Creating data-led statistics pages to highlight industry trends
An estimated £1.3 billion has been spent on unwanted gifts in the UK, with around 31 million Brits receiving a gift they did not want.
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