Those Anglo Saxons. In the US they are borrowed up to the hilt, and in the UK, we are not far behind. According to a report from Datamonitor, the UK takes up more than a third of consumer debt across Europe.

Apparently, the average Brit owes £3,175. As for the last year, British consumers borrowed £215bn, whereas across Europe total borrowing was just £600 billion.

Paul Marsh, financial services analyst at Datamonitor said: “The difference between Britain and the rest of Western Europe is striking and is a result of the UK’s insatiable appetite for credit. In contrast, many other major European countries have a culture of saving and frugalness, and countries such as France and Germany are particularly debt averse.”

Apparently, the Germans tend to borrow mainly for buying cars, but the French will use credit for buying household appliances.

As for the credit card companies? The challenge now, says Datamonitor, is to persuade Germans to use their credit cards.

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