Other key national statistics:

Real GDP in the UK economy during 2009 Q3 declined by 0.3% which means that Britain has officially been in recession for 18 months - the longest period since records began in 1955. GDP is now 5.2 per cent lower than the third quarter of 2008.

The Ernst & Young Item Club economist forecast warns GDP will struggle to pass one per cent growth in 2010 - as people turn to cutting back debts over spending and tax rises come.

There were 5.84 million working age benefit claimants at May 2009. This is an increase of 694,000 in the year.

UK base rate fell to a 315 year low when the official bank rate was reduced to 0.5% on 5th March 2009.

There were 4,716 compulsory liquidations and creditors' voluntary liquidations in total in England and Wales in the third quarter of 2009 (on a seasonally adjusted basis). This was an increase of 14.6% on the same period a year ago. In the twelve months ending Q3 2009, approximately 1 in 114 active companies (or 0.9%) went into liquidation. Additionally, there were 1,578 other corporate insolvencies in the third quarter of 2009 (not seasonally adjusted) comprising 410 receiverships, 974 administrations and 194 company voluntary arrangements. In total these represented an increase of 9.3% on the same period a year ago.

In October 2009 the public sector net debt (PSND) increased to £829.7bn, equivalent to 59.2% of gross domestic product and equivalent to ~ £33,188 per household. PSND has increased £135bn in 12 months (equivalent to a growth of £4,268 per second or £5,400 per household). The interest paid on this debt by the Government in April to October was £15.4bn which is equivalent to ~ £1,056 per household / annum.

The biggest impact of the financial interventions on the UK's fiscal measures is on public sector net debt through the reclassification of financial corporations. The exact effect of the reclassifications has not been quantified yet but is expected to be about £1.5 trillion (equivalent to 100% of GDP).

According to the UK 2009 Budget report the public sector net debt (PSND), including unrealised losses from financial sector interventions, increases over the period to 2013-14 to £1,446bn (equivalent to £57,840 per household) and then stabilises at around 79% of GDP.

The number of unemployed people in the three months to September 2009 was 2.46 million (7.8%), up 30,000 from the previous three months (which is the smallest quarterly increases in unemployment since March-May 2008) and up 629,000 (1,723 a day) over the year. This is the highest quarterly figure in 14.5 years since Q1 1995. 205,000 people (2,247 a day) reported they had become redundant in the three months down 63,000 from the previous three months and up 49,000 from a year earlier.

There is a gap of 820,000 between the number of people who are currently unemployed and the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance benefit (1.64m).

Consumer Prices Index (CPI) annual inflation increased to 1.5% in October. Retail Prices Index (RPI) fell - 0.8% in October, up from - 1.4% in September. According to the November Bank of England Inflation report, CPI inflation is likely to rise sharply to above the 2% target in the near term, reflecting higher petrol price inflation and the reversal of last year's reduction in VAT.

New car registrations rose for the fourth month in a row in October. New car registrations rose 31.6% in October to 168,942 units.

UK retail sales values rose 3.8% on a like-for-like basis and rose 5.9% on a total basis, from October 2008.

The Policy Exchange says most people are aware that Britain has a huge national debt which is growing during the current fiscal crisis. But what many people do not know is that we have a second national debt - one that is kept out of government figures and hidden from view. This is the public sector pension debt, which has grown as successive governments have continued to promise public sector workers defined benefit pensions, often worth two thirds of final salary, index-linked for life. It is now equivalent to 78% of GDP (£1.1trillion) with the cost of servicing the debt each year to pay for these unfunded schemes now at £45.2 billion.

Servicing Debt: The Insolvency Service said there were 35,242 individual insolvencies in England and Wales (386 people a day or 1 every 3.72 minutes) in the third quarter of 2009 on a seasonally adjusted basis. This was an increase of 6.6% on the previous quarter and an increase of 28.2% on the same period a year ago. These are currently at the highest levels on record.

Personal insolvencies now have a run rate of more than 120,000 per annum. In addition to these reported insolvencies, PwC estimates there will be between 100,000 and 150,000 Debt Management Plans this year. Taking these combined debt solutions into account suggests that, on average, around 1,000 people are seeking some form of formal debt rescheduling every working day.

11,700 properties were taken into possession in the third quarter, up slightly from 11,400 in the previous quarter, and 5% higher than the number in the third quarter of 2008. This equates to 128 properties being repossessed every day or 1 property being repossessed every 11.2 minutes.

At the end of September 194,600 mortgages, 1.77% of the total, were in arrears of 2.5% or more of the outstanding mortgage balance. This compares with 204,200 cases (1.86% of all mortgages) at the end of June.

The FSA estimate that at the end of Q2 there were 403,000 loan accounts in reportable arrears (> 1.5% of current loan balance), an increase of 3,000 or 1% on Q1, and a rise of 30% on a year ago. At the end of Q2, loans in arrears represented 3.66% of the value of the loan book, up 1.1% from a year earlier.

Research from Shelter and Money Advice Trust shows that a massive 1.3m low-income households are struggling or falling behind with their finances and many feel under mental and emotional strain. Four in ten (39%), equivalent to around 600,000 households, feel their debts are harming their physical and mental well-being, rising to almost 50% in households with children

12.2m people - almost one quarter (24%) of adults in the UK - are hiding some form of debt (be that overdrafts, credit cards, store cards loans etc) from their partner, friends or family according to research completed by AXA. With an average hidden debt of £4,096 this means that there is potentially £50.1bn worth of 'hidden debt' in the UK.