Finance and Law

What Does the Household Debt to GDP Ratio Tell us About the UK?

<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Despite the fact that Prime Minister Theresa May has finally emerged from the Brexit negotiations with a withdrawal bill&comma; the uncertainty surrounding the UK’s exit from the European Union has never been more troubling&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">With the nation also <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;bbc&period;co&period;uk&sol;news&sol;business-46377765" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">woefully underprepared for the reality of a no-deal Brexit<&sol;a>&comma; the short and long-term future of the UK undoubtedly remains in the balance at present&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">However&comma; the household debt to GDP ratio in the UK has improved steadily since the EU referendum vote&comma; while it’s also far lower than the dark days of the Great Recession in 2010&period; <em>But what exactly does this metric tell us about the UK’s economy&quest;<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">What is the Household Debt to GDP Ratio in the UK&quest;<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">As of March 2018&comma; the household debt to GDP ratio in the UK <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;tradingeconomics&period;com&sol;country-list&sol;households-debt-to-gdp" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">was recorded at 86&period;10&percnt;<&sol;a>&comma; with this figure having declined previously in relation to the previous quarter&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">This rate has also declined incrementally <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;tradingeconomics&period;com&sol;united-kingdom&sol;households-debt-to-gdp" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">from the recent peak of 86&period;7&percnt; in June 2017<&sol;a>&comma; with the growth of consumer borrowing and the demand for lenders like <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;likelyloans&period;com&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">Likely Loans<&sol;a> having fallen slightly during the last year&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">From a global perspective&comma; the UK’s household debt to GDP ratio is also relatively healthy&comma; coming in lower than progressive and developed economies such as Canada&comma; New Zealand&comma; Australia and Switzerland&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">In simple terms&comma; this means that the average UK household is <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;thestar&period;com&period;my&sol;business&sol;business-news&sol;2014&sol;03&sol;22&sol;what-if-the-household-debt-to-gdp-hits-100&num;QVyk6shuaHLhQ2M2&period;99" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">carrying debts that are less than their total income<&sol;a>&comma; with GDP referring to the combined value of goods and services produced on a national scale &lpar;including wages and economic output&rpar;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>What Does This Tell us About the Economy&quest;<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">In order to understand the impact that this has on the UK economy&comma; we need to imagine a scenario where a country’s household debt to GDP ratio exceeds 100&percnt;&period; This applies to nations like Denmark&comma; and in this instances households are spending more than they earn on a monthly or annual basis&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">This is typical of large and fast-growing populations&comma; where the demand for big-ticket items such as cars and houses remains high&period; Similarly&comma; this may also hint at a scenario in which the rate of inflation is significantly higher than the national wage&comma; making households unable to cope with the demands of a spiralling cost of living&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><strong><em>So what does this tell us about the UK economy&quest; <&sol;em><&sol;strong>While the nation’s household debt to GDP rate remains lower than 100&percnt;&comma; it still accounts for a significant amount of income and annual earnings&period; In the case of the UK&comma; this rate has undoubtedly been influenced by a dramatic shortage of skilled construction workers and housing&comma; which has triggered in imbalance between supply and demand and sent to price of property soaring&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">We should also not be surprised to learn that the rate of inflation in the UK <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;bbc&period;co&period;uk&sol;news&sol;business-45572856" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">rose unexpectedly in August to 2&period;7&percnt;<&sol;a>&comma; with this remaining higher than national wage growth&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Overall&comma; we can see how various economic factors have contributed to a household debt to GDP ratio in excess of 86&percnt;&period; <em>This still remains relatively healthy in the current economic climate&comma; however&comma; while the government in the UK has also sought to control this figure by manipulating the base interest rate&period;<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;

Hardik Patel

Hardik Patel is a Digital Marketing Consultant and professional Blogger. He has 16+ years experience in SEO, SMO, SEM, Online reputation management, Affiliated Marketing and Content Marketing.

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