UK consumers carry a heavy load of debt.

The difference between saving and spending was recently illustrated by a comparison between the United Kingdom (UK) and the rest of Europe. The UK, it turns out, has the highest level of debt per capita. by far, of any country in the region. The average person in the UK owes approximately us$5,600. According to a brief review published by AFX, the business wire of Agence France-Presse (AFP), of a Datamonitor research report, the total owed by the average Briton is "almost double the average of the rest of the region."

The amount owed by the average person in the rest of Europe was calculated by Datamonitor at us$2,914.

The striking difference was attributed to Britons' propensity to "buy now, pay later" and a culture of saving in mainland Europe. Datamonitor said that Germany and France were particularly averse to debt.

AFX also mentioned other research on UK debt conducted by a prominent UK debt advisory service. That research found that more than 100,000 UK consumers between 18 and 24 years of age carried credit card debt in excess of us$9,350.

AFX quoted the author of the Datamonitor report as saying, "The UK is an increasingly difficult place to do business due to the highly indebted nature of the population." The reference to doing business meant firms that provide credit.