Aussie household debt highest in 25 years but slowing since the GFC

Household debt per person in Australia reached a staggering $1.8 trillion - equal to $79,000 per person - at the end of 2013 according to a report released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

The study calculated the amount of household debt versus the assets and income coming into a household. According to the ABS, over the last 25 years household debt has increased almost twice as fast as household assets.

While this may come as a shock to most Aussies, the good news is the rate of debt increase is beginning to slow considerably.

ABS Director of Progress Reporting, David Skutenko said "the rate of increase in household debt per person in Australia has slowed since the Global Financial Crisis, from an average 10 per cent per year between 2001 and 2007, to two per cent per year between 2007 and 2013."

The amount of interest paid on debt by Australian households has also dropped since the GFC. "Although the amount paid by households in interest compared with household income is higher than at most other times in the last 50 years, it was lower than its highest point in 2008," said Mr Skutenko.

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