In the third quarter of 2021, Americans racked up $17 billion in credit card debt, the same increase as in the second quarter, according to data published Tuesday in the New York Federal Reserve's Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit.
NerdWallet's annual look at credit card and other forms of household debt finds that credit card balances carried from month to month are down significantly — almost 14% — from a year earlier, falling to $357 billion as of September 2021.
Credit Card Debt Trends
From the first Q1 2020 to Q2 2021, the average credit card debt per cardholder decreased by $766 or 12%. The average cardholder had $6,434 in Q1 2020. In Q2 2021, the total credit card balance in the country reached $787 billion, 8.5% lower than the $893 billion recorded in Q1 2020.
On average, Americans carry $6,194 in credit card debt, according to the 2019 Experian Consumer Credit Review. And Alaskans have the highest credit card balance, on average $8,026.
“Groceries are the number one reason why people carry a balance,” Micheletti says. “I was shocked, and I typically don't get too shocked with these things.”
The average American's savings varies by household and demographic. As of 2019, per the U.S. Federal Reserve, the median transaction account balance (checking and savings combined) for the American family was $5,300; the mean (or average) transaction account balance was $41,600.
But ideally you should never spend more than 10% of your take-home pay towards credit card debt. ... So, take a look at your budget and bank statements and calculate how much money you're spending monthly to pay down debt. If that amount is greater than 10%, you might have a problem.
3. The USA has the highest average national credit card debt. Shift Processing compared the median credit card debt in the United States in 2020 to the one in nine other countries worldwide. The USA is in the lead, according to global credit card debt statistics, with average 2020 debt of $5,331.
There are four primary sources of American debt: home mortgages, car loans, student loans, and credit card debt. Of that $14 trillion dollar debt we mentioned, a little more than $9 trillion can be credited to mortgages. Another $1.3 trillion comes from car loans, which have had low-interest rates since 2008.
$90,271 for every person living in the U.S.[7] $230,987 for every household in the U.S.[8] 71% more than the combined consumer debt of every household in the U.S.[9] 8.2 times annual federal revenues.
Japan, with its population of 127,185,332, has the highest national debt in the world at 234.18% of its GDP, followed by Greece at 181.78%.
1. Hong Kong —0.1%. Hong Kong's market-driven economy is characterised by a lucrative financial banking sector, well-regulated financial controls, large foreign exchange reserves, and virtually no public debt.
United States - public debt by month 2020/21
In December 2021, the public debt of the United States was around 29.62 trillion U.S. dollars, around 1.87 trillion more than a year earlier, when it was around 27.75 trillion U.S. dollars.
Credit bureaus suggest that five or more accounts — which can be a mix of cards and loans — is a reasonable number to build toward over time. Having very few accounts can make it hard for scoring models to render a score for you.
Never owe more than 20% or your credit limit. Ex: if you have a card with a $1000 credit limit, you should never owe more than $200 on that card. Charge more than 20% and your credit score can fall, even though the credit compant gave you a bigger credit limit.
In 2020, the average credit card credit limit was $30,365, according to Experian data. ... However, average credit card limits also vary by age range, and people who are new to credit or rebuilding their credit may have lower credit limits.
It found that about 54% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. And nearly 40% of high earners — those making more than $100,000 annually — said they live that way.
How much does the average person have in their bank account? The median balance among different types of bank accounts is $5,300, according to the Federal Reserve's 2019 Survey of Consumer Finance. That includes checking accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts and prepaid debit cards.
On the whole, the survey found that Americans' average personal savings have grown 10% year over year, from $65,900 in 2020 to $73,100 in 2021. Retirement savings have jumped 13% from $87,500 to $98,800.
The average monthly credit card bill is a minimum payment of $110.50, based on the average American credit card balance of $5,525 and the average minimum payment percentage of 2%.
Global Debt Reaches a Record $226 Trillion.
The federal net debt rose by $253.4 billion in 2020 to reach $942.5 billion or 42.7% of GDP, compared with 29.8% in 2019.
The public debt of Japan has continued to rise in response to a number of challenges, including but not limited to the Global Financial Crisis in 2007-08, the Tōhoku Earthquake in 2011, and the COVID-19 pandemic beginning in late 2019 which also held ramifications for Tokyo's hosting of the 2020 Summer Olympics.