Bank of England: Consumer borrowing suffers biggest fall since 1994

The Bank of England has today reported that consumer borrowing across the country fell in January at its fastest pace since May last year.

The bank’s data showed that unsecured lending to consumers fell by £2.4bn, the biggest drop since May 2020’s fall of £4.6bn.

The figures mean that year-on-year, figures have fallen by 8.9 per cent - the biggest decline since monthly records began in 1994.

The Bank of England said: “Households’ consumer credit weakened in January with net repayments of £2.4bn.

“This compares to an average net repayment of £1bn between September and December 2020, and was the largest net repayment since May 2020.

“The decline reflects less new borrowing. As a result, the annual growth rate fell further to -8.9 per cent, a new series low since it began in 1994.”