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| UK card use: the penny drops? | UK card use: the penny drops? |
| (3 months later) | |
| The average British adult spends more on debit cards than every other country in Western Europe except Denmark, according to data released today. | The average British adult spends more on debit cards than every other country in Western Europe except Denmark, according to data released today. |
| The figures compiled by the UK Cards Association show that a British person will spend just over £6,750 a year on their debit cards, which is more than three times the EU average of £2065. There were 10.8 bn transactions made on UK debit cards in 2012, an increase of 6.1% on the previous year. | The figures compiled by the UK Cards Association show that a British person will spend just over £6,750 a year on their debit cards, which is more than three times the EU average of £2065. There were 10.8 bn transactions made on UK debit cards in 2012, an increase of 6.1% on the previous year. |
| Despite spending the most, the UK actually trails behind in the number of debit card transactions made per person each year, which seems to reflect a higher cost of living in the UK. The average Brit makes roughly 147 debit card transactions in a year, fewer than the average for Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands where people spent less overall. | Despite spending the most, the UK actually trails behind in the number of debit card transactions made per person each year, which seems to reflect a higher cost of living in the UK. The average Brit makes roughly 147 debit card transactions in a year, fewer than the average for Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands where people spent less overall. |
| Only Danish people had a higher debit card spend, racking up an average £9,090 yearly. The UK Cards Association's report suggests this is partially down to the popularity of the Dankort debit card in the nordic country. | Only Danish people had a higher debit card spend, racking up an average £9,090 yearly. The UK Cards Association's report suggests this is partially down to the popularity of the Dankort debit card in the nordic country. |
| The UK also continues to favour debit cards to credit cards, with the average cardholder spending £2,960 on credit yearly, less than half what they would spend on debit. Nevertheless, Britain still spends more on credit than most European countries with only Sweden spending more. | The UK also continues to favour debit cards to credit cards, with the average cardholder spending £2,960 on credit yearly, less than half what they would spend on debit. Nevertheless, Britain still spends more on credit than most European countries with only Sweden spending more. |
| What do they spend it on? | What do they spend it on? |
| The report also gives a breakdown of how people in the UK use their debit and credit cards. It is not really surprising to see that food and drink is a large source of debit card spending; the £75bn spent in 2012 represented over a third of all transactions and a fifth of overall debit card spending. Financial services represented the next biggest sector for debit card users, taking £50bn or 14% of all spending. | The report also gives a breakdown of how people in the UK use their debit and credit cards. It is not really surprising to see that food and drink is a large source of debit card spending; the £75bn spent in 2012 represented over a third of all transactions and a fifth of overall debit card spending. Financial services represented the next biggest sector for debit card users, taking £50bn or 14% of all spending. |
| Despite only being worth 7% of overall spending entertainment purchases were responsible for over 1bn transactions. This means that more than one in ten debit card purchases are on entertainment. | Despite only being worth 7% of overall spending entertainment purchases were responsible for over 1bn transactions. This means that more than one in ten debit card purchases are on entertainment. |
| Food and drink also proved popular among credit card users, with the £27bn spent taking up 27% of all credit card transactions and 15% of overall spending. Other areas which take up a fair proportion of credit card usage include travel and household spending. | Food and drink also proved popular among credit card users, with the £27bn spent taking up 27% of all credit card transactions and 15% of overall spending. Other areas which take up a fair proportion of credit card usage include travel and household spending. |
| The only area where the overall spend is bigger on credit cards than debit cards is actually hotels. £9bn credit was spent by those booking rooms away from home, more than twice the £4bn spent using debit. | The only area where the overall spend is bigger on credit cards than debit cards is actually hotels. £9bn credit was spent by those booking rooms away from home, more than twice the £4bn spent using debit. |
| How's it spent? | How's it spent? |
| Download the data | Download the data |
| • DATA: download the full spreadsheet | • DATA: download the full spreadsheet |
| Can you do more with this data? | Can you do more with this data? |
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| More open data | More open data |
| Data journalism and data visualisations from the Guardian | Data journalism and data visualisations from the Guardian |
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