The Financial Conduct Authority's Financial Lives 2022 survey reported that overdraft use fell across a wide range of demographic groups between 2020 and 20221. The finding comes from the credit and loans section of the survey, published on 26 July 20231.
Fieldwork for the 2022 survey ran from 1 February to 6 June 2022, with 19,145 interviews conducted online and by telephone, and more than 60% of interviews completed in May 20221. The survey reports results as 2022, or sometimes as May 20221.
On overdrafts, 20% of adults, or 10.5 million people, were overdrawn in May 2022 or had been at some point in the previous 12 months, a fall of 7 percentage points on 20201. The survey also reported a significant increase in ownership of retail instalment credit1.
Overall, 83% of adults held at least one credit or loan product in May 2022 or had done so at some point in the previous 12 months1. Counting only those who use consumer credit regulated agreements, 78% of adults had one or more credit or loan product in May 20221. Excluding those who were only transactors, 46% of adults held any consumer credit regulated agreements in 2022, down from 52% in 20201.
Holdings of individual products, with the change on 2020, were reported as follows1:
| Product | Share of adults (number) | Change on 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| Credit card | 64% (33.8m) | -2% |
| Overdraft (ie overdrawn) | 20% (10.5m) | -7% |
| Credit card (revolvers) | 17% (9.1m) | -5% |
| Personal loan | 14% (7.2m) | -2% |
| Motor finance | 12% (6.4m) | -1% |
| Store card | 12% (6.3m) | -2% |
| Catalogue credit or shopping accounts | 11% (6.0m) | -2% |
| Retail instalment credit | 10% (5.2m) | 0% |
| Retail hire purchase (excl. rent-to-own) | 3.7% (2.0m) | -0.4% |
| Store card (revolvers) | 3.4% (1.8m) | -0.2% |
| Catalogue credit or shopping accounts (revolvers) | 5.8% (3.1m) | -1.3% |
| Short-term instalment loan | 2.1% (1.1m) | -0.3% |
| Rent-to-own | 1.8% (1.0m) | -0.5% |
| Payday loan (single payment) | 1.2% (0.6m) | -0.7% |
The survey notes that deferred payment credit and employer salary advance schemes were added to the 2022 survey1.
"Between 2020 and 2022, overdraft use fell across a wide range of demographic groups"
Why it matters for households
The figures describe how many adults were using overdrafts and other credit in the year to May 2022, and how that compares with the position before the pandemic. The 2022 fieldwork therefore covers a period that includes the pandemic and the 2020 overdraft changes, though the survey findings as reported do not attribute the fall in overdraft use to any particular cause.
The reported fall in overdraft use is a change in the share of adults who were overdrawn or had been in the previous 12 months, not a statement about the amounts any individual owed. The survey also reports the share of adults holding each type of credit or loan product, so the figures indicate how common each product was rather than the size of balances.
What happens next
The survey document is dated 26 July 20231. No further publication date or next steps are set out in the credit and loans findings.
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