UK tops poll for debt burden

People in the UK and Ireland are feeling their debt burden hit their quality of life more than any other European countries, according to a survey released this week.

The findings from price comparison site uSwitch.com pile on the misery faced by consumers in the wake of recent warnings by the British Chambers of Commerce of a pending recession in the UK. 

News that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is running at an 11 year high of 3.3%, coupled with the recent warning that the price of goods is climbing faster than at any time in the past 22 years will do little to move the UK ahead in the rankings for some time.

Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England warned consumers last month to brace themselves for “the most difficult economic conditions in two decades,” blaming a sharp increase in inflation from 2.1% in December to 3.3% in May on the increased cost of food, fuel, gas and electricity.

Spain was found to have the best quality of life and France in second place, while the UK and Ireland languished in the bottom two places, largely because of increasing inflation and third highest spending on utility bills.

Between 2006 and 2008 alone, the cost of diesel in the UK has increased by 38%. The UK is now the most expensive place to buy diesel at £1.32 per litre, 20p more than the European average.

This entry was posted on 22/07/2008 at 09:41 am and is filed under Debt. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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