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Credit Card Debt Statistics

Because of our present economic condition, there are a lot of people struggling with their finances. Unemployment rate has also increased from 6.8% in November 2008 and now to 7.2%. With no jobs and other means of income, people were left with no choice but to incur debts. People who were very consistent in making payments before are now becoming delinquent in their credit card accounts. Based on survey 66% of the Americans believe that we incur debt because of unfortunate circumstances that we cannot control while 60% believe that this is the effect of the wrong decisions we make. So now let’s discuss credit card debt statistics to help us understand the situation we are in.

Based on the recent consumer report, one-third of the Americans don’t own any credit card. 54% of those who own credit cards pay their outstanding balance in full every month. 33% of them have outstanding balances not more than $10,000 while 13% of them have balances over $10,000. The average interest rate charged to credit card holders back in 2003 was 16.5%, on 2007 it increased to 19%. In January of 2008, 32% of consumers have paid their balances in full and closed their account. Now let’s take a look at college student credit card debt statistics.

The statistics on credit card debt among college students reveals that 43% of the freshmen students own a credit card while there are 74% of the 4th year and 5th year students who have credit card. 41% of those who have credit cards carried a balance every month of about $1000. And about 25% use their credit cards for tuition. About four out of ten of these young adults ages 18 to 21 who make use of the internet have credit cards and 65% of them applied for a credit card online.

Having a lot of debts can be very stressful for us when we’re all struggling to keep up with those monthly bills. There are those who believe that it can be controlled if the person has discipline and knows how to save but there are also those who believe that debts have become a part of their life. Based on the study of the Federal Reserve Bank, 40% of the Americans are spending more than their income. Maybe this is something we should all think about whenever we are planning to use our credit card. Changing our attitude could probably help improve the results of credit card debt statistics 2010.

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