Consumer loans outstanding at the end of 2007 totaled $13.1 trillion—more than the entire U.S. national debt.

$10.5 trillion, or 80.4%, consisted of mortgage and home equity loans. The remaining $2.6 trillion was non-mortgage consumer credit. Of this amount, $1.6 trillion, or 62.8%, was installment debt (mainly car loans), while $0.9 trillion was revolving debt (mostly credit card debt).

The consumer lending industry has grown at a compound annual growth rate of 9.1% since the end of 2004. The mortgage segment has grown at a 10.3% rate, while non-mortgage debt has grown at a 4.6% rate.

In 2007, growth slowed in the consumer lending industry as mortgage lending slowed. Mortgage debt outstanding grew 6.6% in 2007, while non-mortgage debt grew 5.1%. This compares with growth rates of 11.1% and 4.6% in 2006.

Mortgage debt has increased from a 74.0% share of all consumer debt at the end of 1999 to 80.4% at the end of 2007.