Credit Card debt increase is off the chart, study finds

With the economy on shaky ground and the Federal Reserve's latest G19 report now available, WalletHub today released its new inflation-adjusted Credit Card Debt Study, which found that consumers added $86 billion in debt during 2025. Key highlights are outlined below.

• Sharp Debt Spike: At $86 billion, the increase in credit card debt during 2025 was around 75% larger than the increase in 2024.
  
• Just Below Peak: Total credit card debt at the end of 2025 was roughly $1.39 trillion on an inflation-adjusted basis, which was about 9% below the record high.
  
• Household Debt Has Some Breathing Room: The average household credit card balance was $11,507 at the end of 2025, after adjusting for inflation. That's $1,596 below the record high.
  
• Early Q1 Returns: Preliminary data for January shows a 0.4% increase in credit card debt compared to the same month last year.
  

See the complete findings of WalletHub's Credit Card Debt Study.


"Credit card debt is surging back in a big way. Consumers managed to keep things together for much of 2025, but the expensive holiday season seemed to have doomed us. We racked up $73 billion in credit card debt during the fourth quarter of the year alone, pushing our total for the year to roughly $86 billion in new debt. It's not too late to turn things around, though. Anyone can make a dent in their debt with some good old-fashioned budgeting, and if you have good credit, you could qualify for a balance transfer credit card offering 0% interest for up to 24 months. But don't procrastinate. If the economy takes a turn for the worse, things will get a lot harder."

- John Kiernan, WalletHub Editor