Borrowing estimates for Bedford, built from published survey rates and population figures.
An estimated 130,000 adults in Bedford held at least one credit or loan product in 2024.
Source: Estimate from FCA Financial Lives 2024 and ONS mid-2024 population estimates, Borrowing Data, 2024
Estimate: 86% of adults in the East of England held at least one credit or loan product (FCA Financial Lives 2024, adults aged 18 and over) applied to 151,232 adults aged 18 and over in Bedford (ONS mid-2024 population estimates, single-year ages summed).
An estimated 104,000 adults in Bedford held a credit card in 2024.
Source: Estimate from FCA Financial Lives 2024 and ONS mid-2024 population estimates, Borrowing Data, 2024
Estimate: 69% of adults in the East of England held a credit card (FCA Financial Lives 2024, adults aged 18 and over) applied to 151,232 adults aged 18 and over in Bedford (ONS mid-2024 population estimates, single-year ages summed).
An estimated 31,800 adults in Bedford were overdrawn on a current account in 2024.
Source: Estimate from FCA Financial Lives 2024 and ONS mid-2024 population estimates, Borrowing Data, 2024
Estimate: 21% of adults in the East of England were overdrawn on a current account (FCA Financial Lives 2024, adults aged 18 and over) applied to 151,232 adults aged 18 and over in Bedford (ONS mid-2024 population estimates, single-year ages summed).
An estimated 46,900 adults in Bedford had a residential mortgage in 2024.
Source: Estimate from FCA Financial Lives 2024 and ONS mid-2024 population estimates, Borrowing Data, 2024
Estimate: 31% of adults in the East of England had a residential mortgage (FCA Financial Lives 2024, adults aged 18 and over) applied to 151,232 adults aged 18 and over in Bedford (ONS mid-2024 population estimates, single-year ages summed).
An estimated 28,700 adults in Bedford used buy now, pay later credit in 2024.
Source: Estimate from FCA Financial Lives 2024 and ONS mid-2024 population estimates, Borrowing Data, 2024
Estimate: 19% of adults in the East of England used buy now, pay later credit (FCA Financial Lives 2024, adults aged 18 and over) applied to 151,232 adults aged 18 and over in Bedford (ONS mid-2024 population estimates, single-year ages summed).
An estimated 8,770 adults in Bedford held high-cost credit in 2024.
Source: Estimate from FCA Financial Lives 2024 and ONS mid-2024 population estimates, Borrowing Data, 2024
Estimate: 5.8% of adults in the East of England held high-cost credit (FCA Financial Lives 2024, adults aged 18 and over) applied to 151,232 adults aged 18 and over in Bedford (ONS mid-2024 population estimates, single-year ages summed).
An estimated 30,200 adults in Bedford had low financial resilience in 2024.
Source: Estimate from FCA Financial Lives 2024 and ONS mid-2024 population estimates, Borrowing Data, 2024
Estimate: 20% of adults in the East of England had low financial resilience (FCA Financial Lives 2024, adults aged 18 and over) applied to 151,232 adults aged 18 and over in Bedford (ONS mid-2024 population estimates, single-year ages summed).
An estimated 9,070 adults in Bedford were in financial difficulty in 2024.
Source: Estimate from FCA Financial Lives 2024 and ONS mid-2024 population estimates, Borrowing Data, 2024
Estimate: 6% of adults in the East of England were in financial difficulty (FCA Financial Lives 2024, adults aged 18 and over) applied to 151,232 adults aged 18 and over in Bedford (ONS mid-2024 population estimates, single-year ages summed).
The estimated population aged 16 and over in Bedford was 157,762 at mid-2025.
Source: Population estimates - local authority based by single year of age (Nomis NM_2002_1), mid-year estimates, Office for National Statistics, 30 June 2025
ONS mid-2025 population estimates (published 29 July 2026 for England and Wales; Scotland and Northern Ireland as carried in the same Nomis table), local authority boundaries as of April 2023, usual residents, as returned by the Nomis 'Aged 16+' category.
An estimated 130,000 adults in Bedford held at least one credit or loan product in 2024. An estimated 104,000 adults in Bedford held a credit card in 2024. An estimated 31,800 adults in Bedford were overdrawn on a current account in 2024.
An estimated 130,000 adults in Bedford held at least one credit or loan product in 2024.
An estimated 104,000 adults in Bedford held a credit card in 2024.
An estimated 31,800 adults in Bedford were overdrawn on a current account in 2024.