 TITLE: Consumer Finances Then and Now: The Great Recession vs. 2020 CONTENT: Consumer Debt Spiked in Early 2008\n----------------------------------\nThe change in consumers' average debt totals during the first three months of each economic downturn reveals a stark contrast. In the first three months of the Great Recession, consumers increased their average total debt by $3,843, or 4%, whereas debt balances during the same period in 2020 grew by an average of just $195, or 0.2%.\nConsumers carried more overall debt going into the recession in December 2007, with an average of $90,576 per person. In February 2020, consumers' total average debt was slightly lower, at $89,590.\nSource: Experian END