"We project that growth in unsecured borrowing across the UK will continue over the next three years, albeit at a slower rate."
Total levels of unsecured personal debt are now 30% higher than their pre-crisis peak.
Rising by 11%, or close to £80m per day- almost £55,000 per minute -the UK’s unsecured debt mountain has grown faster in the past year than any year since 2002.
Reflecting the heightened appetite for credit, the UK’s unsecured debt pile has also grown at least three times faster than secured debt in each of the last five years.
PwC projects Britain’s debt milestone will exceed £340bn, or £12,500 per household, before the end of the decade.
Simon Westcott, consumer credit leader at PwC, said: “The rapid increase in unsecured borrowing in recent years reflects a change of attitude on the part of households across the UK. Following the financial crisis, we saw households repaying their unsecured debt, reducing their borrowing by around 10% between 2008 and 2012 - or closer to 25% if we exclude student borrowing.
“However, since then, and despite the uncertainty created by political upheaval, a number of macro-economic factors have combined to create a climate of rising consumer confidence and borrowing. Car finance especially has grown by at least 15% in each of the past five years, representing the largest increase among the main unsecured lending products.
“The true scale of the issue has now been put into sharp relief - but there is still more to come. We project that growth in unsecured borrowing across the UK will continue over the next three years, albeit at a slower rate. Our projections show we are heading for an unsecured debt pile of more than £340bn, or around £12,500 per household before we reach 2020.”
