• In 2004 the number of debit card transactions in the United Kingdom was ten times higher than it had been in 1991. Over the same period credit card usage increased by a factor of almost three. (Figure 6.8)
• Between 1996 and 2004 the volume of expenditure by UK households on goods grew at an average rate of 5.0 per cent per year. This was nearly three times the rate for expenditure on services, which grew at 1.8 per cent per year. (Figure 6.1)
• The greatest increase in the volume of spending between 1971 and 2004 has been on communications, with a ninefold rise. (Table 6.2) Latest information on family spending
• In September 2005 annual growth in the volume of retail sales in Great Britain, measured using the seasonally adjusted index was 0.7 per cent, the lowest figure for almost ten years. (Figure 6.7) Latest information on retail sales
• Individual borrowing rose considerably between the second quarter of 1993 and the second quarter of 2005, increasing by £550 billion to over £1 trillion in 2004 prices. (Figure 6.10)
• The number of individual insolvencies in England and Wales rose to 46,700 in 2004, an increase of 31 per cent over the previous year. (Figure 6.11)
• In July 2005 the CPI went above the 2.0 per cent target set by the Chancellor for the first time since it has been the official measure of inflation. By September 2005 it had reached 2.5 per cent. (Figure 6.12) Latest information on inflation
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