35% of Britons have cut their debt levels in the 12 months, according to new research from MoneySupermarket.com.

The comparison site found that the average amount of personal debt, excluding mortgages, is £6,926, a reduction of £1,500 since last year.

On average, men have a 37% higher rate of personal debt than women, owing £8,061 compared to £5,869.

However, 27% of people with debt have had to increase their total amount of non-mortgage borrowing in the last year. Although more people in the red are paying down debt than increasing it, 38% are still worried about their debt levels.

Those who are in debt but not already worried about their borrowing levels would need their debt to increase to £13,761 before they become concerned, the research found.

Meanwhile, 10% can only afford to make the very minimum repayments to resolve their debt.

“It’s encouraging to see consumers showing prudence and looking to pay down their debt,” said Tim Moss, head of loans and debt at MoneySupermarket.com.

“However, with the economic outlook continuing to remain uncertain, many Brits are feeling very concerned about their current financial situation. Balancing the household budget is hard enough without being saddled with the additional pressure of debt repayments. However, there is no need to suffer in silence and there are many options to make steps to reduce personal debt, before it escalates out of control.”