- UK consumer credit increased by £0.9 billion in October, similar to the previous few months, but below much of the period since 2016
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UK consumer credit increased by £0.9 billion in October, similar to the previous few months, but below much of the period since 2016
The net amount of new consumer borrowing, excluding mortgages, was £0.9 billion in October. Within this, net credit card borrowing was slightly lower than September, at £0.4 billion, while borrowing for other loans and advances was slightly higher at £0.5 billion. Since July, the net flow of consumer credit has averaged £1.0 billion, somewhat less than an average flow of £1.5 billion since early 2016.
The annual growth rate of consumer credit slowed further in October, to 7.5%, reflecting the weaker lending flows seen in recent months. This was the lowest since May 2015, and well below the peak of 10.9% in November 2016.
The number of mortgages approved for house purchase has been broadly stable for the past couple of years, and ticked up to 67,000 in October, the highest since January 2018. The number of approvals for remortgaging was unchanged on the month at 49,000.
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