Brits embrace debt again 6 April 2010
Steven Jackson (about the author)

With the end of recession consumers are re-embracing the mantra “buy it now, pay for it later”.

Brits are returning to their old habits of spend and borrow, indicating that the thrift of the recession may have been a short-lived fad.

Figures from unbiased.co.uk show that at the end of 2009, consumers were borrowing 62p for every pound they saved.

This is compared to the end of 2008, when they repaid £1.68 of borrowed money for every pound saved.

Consumers saved a total of £71.6 billion in 2009, 50% less than during 2008.

“These latest figures highlight that consumers are back to behaving as they did before the onset of the credit crunch, even though the economy is still not back to full strength,” said Karen Barrett, unbiased.co.uk chief executive.