Irish household debt burden ‘remains huge’

Senior debt advisers have warned that households continue to face paying down intolerable debt burdens despite new official figures showing that overall personal debt levels had fallen to a 10-year low.

The total sum of the country’s household debt stood at €157bn in the final quarter last year, equivalent to a debt of €34,069 owed by every person in the State, but down by 1.6% from the previous quarter, said the Central Bank.

The bank’s latest quarterly financial accounts also showed that overall debt had fallen by almost 23% from a peak in the third quarter of 2008, while the measure of household debt sustainability had also improved.