As the UK economy perks up, shoppers are increasingly likely to purchase goods by using credit cards.
The extent of British reliance on credit cards is substantial. Figures released this week indicate that mortgages, personal and business lending stacks up to more than £1 trillion.
Indeed, incurring credit card debt by people in the UK is the third highest in Europe, according to research conducted by the Dutch-owned bank ING. Of those interviewed, 28% of Brits said they were in debt on their credit cards.
In Turkey, that was a whopping 56% and in Romania it was 32%.
Spain followed the UK, taking fourth place, with 23% of its people admitting credit card debt. In Germany, the figure is 7%, while just 6% of people in the Netherlands and Austria said they had card debts.
Purchasing by cards has led some analysts to warn that the revival of the British economy is being driven by credit lending rather than sustainable growth.
People in the UK also said they were likely to increase their spending on Christmas this year. In this, they stood out from other European nations as only Romania had a larger proportion of people planning to spend more at Christmas.
Only one in four people in Britain said they planned to repay their debts after Christmas. This was the least of any nation polled.
