Economic Wellbeing Explorer Data Update for February

The Economic Wellbeing Explorer has been updated to include data up to the 28th December 2025. Drawing on de-identified banking data from 5 million GB banking customers, the Explorer sheds light on national, regional and local patterns in economic wellbeing through three key indicators: 

• Overdrawn accounts: the proportion of people who become overdrawn on 2+ occasions in a month
• Living beyond means: spending 120% or more of monthly income
• Low emergency resilience: account balances falling below £100 on 2+ occasions in a month

On their own, these indicators highlight seasonal patterns and shifts following policy or economic changes. Combined with contextual data, they help reveal the underlying drivers of poverty, inequality and financial vulnerability in different parts of Great Britain. 

A snapshot across the nations shows similar levels across regions: 

Overdrawn Accounts

There has been a decrease in overdrawn accounts throughout Great Britain this month with overdrawn Scottish account holders dropping to 15.6%, English to 16.3% and Welsh to 17.8%. The percentage of account holders with overdrawn accounts in our sample has dropped by 0.5% in Scotland, 0.5% in England, and 0.3% in Wales. 

Overdrawn accounts in 2025 look to have had less fluctuation than in the latter half of the year than 2024, and had a minor decrease towards the end of the year and the expected seasonal holiday spending compared to the notable increase in 2024. However, the proportion of overdrawn accounts in this end of year time period was almost identical between the two years with Scotland going from 15.61% of accounts in 2024 to 15.55% in 2025, England from 16.53% to 16.3% and Wales from 17.9% to 17.84%.

Living Beyond Means

The percentage of people in Great Britain who are spending 120% of their income has also decreased in Scotland and England and held a static month-on-month result from Wales. However, Welsh account holders maintain the lowest rate of 9.7% while Scottish account holders are at 9.9% and English at 10%. 

Living beyond means typically is the most closely tied data point across regions, currently within 0.3 percentage points difference between Scotland, England, and Wales, while overdrafts and emergency resilience have larger gaps.

Low Emergency Resilience (LER)

There has been a consistent decrease in Low Emergency Resilience across Great Britain this month with Scottish account holders dropping to 33.5%, English to 35.5% and Welsh to 37.1%. The percentage of people with low emergency resilience has dropped by 1.5% for Scotland, 1.4% for England, and 1.1% for Wales. 

We can see that there has been a difference in trends compared to 2024 where Low Emergency Resilience increased in the lead up to the end of the year, while this year there was a decrease. While this decrease was slight, it is a visual difference in behaviour compared to the prior year. However, the actual percentage of account holders having LER is very similar year-on-year, with 2024 rates sitting at 36.83% for Wales, 35.42% for England, and 33.03% for Scotland.

Explore trends and themes in economic wellbeing at a national, regional and local level with the Economic Wellbeing Explorer. See how these trends map out further in our in-depth article on 2024 vs 2025: What’s Changing in Britain’s Financial Health here. 

By providing actionable, data-driven insights, the Explorer helps policymakers, analysts and service providers make informed decisions that drive impactful change.