UK consumers put £249 billion through credit cards across 5.0 billion transactions in 2024 (UK Finance), an average of close to £50 a payment. The real story is the gap people miss: spending on credit cards is not the same as borrowing on them. Most of that £249 billion is repaid in full; only the part that revolves becomes debt.
How much was spent on credit cards, across how many transactions, and the average size of each.
Both the value and the number of credit card payments edged up in 2024. The average transaction stayed modest, which fits the role credit cards now play in everyday spending.
| Measure | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions | 4.9bn | 5.0bn |
| Total value | – | £249bn |
| Average transaction (derived) | – | ~£49.80 |
Credit cards are increasingly used like debit cards: frequent, modest-value payments rather than occasional big purchases. That everyday role is one reason most of the spending is cleared rather than borrowed. The borrowing side sits on UK credit card debt statistics.
By merchant category, online card spending concentrates in a handful of groups, and the fastest growth has been at the value end of the market.
| Merchant category (online) | Share of online spend | Change vs 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| Education & Government | 13% | – |
| Department stores | 8% | – |
| Discount stores | 6.2% | +237% |
The 237% rise in online discount-store card spending since 2019 reflects both the broader shift to online and a clear value-seeking trend through the cost-of-living squeeze. It is a share of online card spend specifically, so it captures how people shop online rather than total household spending.
For merchants, the question is acceptance cost and card mix; for cardholders, it is whether spending is cleared or carried.
The single most important point about credit card spending data is that it is not a debt figure. Conflating the two badly overstates how much is owed.
The £249 billion is a flow: the money that passed through credit cards over the year. Outstanding credit card debt is a stock: the balance owed at a point in time, around £80 billion. The two are different measures, and most of the spending flow is repaid in full each month rather than added to the debt stock. Reading the £249 billion as "credit card debt" would overstate borrowing several times over.
Credit card value and volume come from UK Finance's UK Payment Markets data; the merchant-category shares from ONS and Visa spending data.
| Source | Publisher | Period covered | Type | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK Payment Markets Report | UK Finance | 2024 (calendar year) | Industry body | 29 Apr 2026 |
| Merchant Category Group spending data | ONS / Visa | 2024 (vs 2019) | Official / card scheme | 29 Apr 2026 |
The £249 billion value and 5.0 billion volume come from UK Finance's UK Payment Markets data, the standard industry count.
The merchant-category online spending shares come from ONS and Visa data. We label them as online shares to keep them distinct from total spend.
The average transaction value is derived from the published value and volume, and is marked as derived.
Value and volume map to UK Finance UK Payment Markets; category shares to ONS and Visa. Spending (a flow) is kept distinct from debt (a stock), category shares are labelled online-only, and the average transaction is flagged as derived. Last full review: 29 Apr 2026.