More credit cards than people in the UK

There are eight million more credit cards in the UK than people, according to research conducted by Datamonitor.

12:27 03 November 2004

There are eight million more credit cards in the UK than people, according to research conducted by Datamonitor.

The firm counted 67 million cards in 2003 - compared with around 59 million people in the country - and has declared the country officially "addicted" to plastic.

Kieran Hines, the author of the report, said: "Consumers in the UK have grown extremely comfortable in making payments by plastic card over recent years.

"The UK is undoubtedly the most developed card market in Europe and is second only to the US internationally."

The UK accounts for over 55 per cent of the 155 million credit cards in circulation in Western Europe, having overtaken Germany to become the most card intensive country in Europe.

The report cautioned that this did not necessarily represent a higher level of indebtedness, but a number of people using credit instead of debit cards or overdrafts.