Figures from across the UK banking industry have been used to create an online snapshot of personal and business lending by postcode area.
Visitors to a website run by the BBA, the trade association for Britain’s banks and building societies, can quickly find out how much people and small and medium-sized enterprises (SME’s) have borrowed almost anywhere in the country.
It only gives totals for each postcode area, so no individual person or business is identified.
A random check yesterday showed Aberdeen’s AB10 1JJ postcode to be the home of £712,804 in outstanding personal loans and £58.52million in current SME loans.
IV1 1JJ in Inverness had £329,053 in personal and £26.79million in SME loans.
In Shetland, Lerwick postcode area ZE1 0AA had £2.71million and £48.04million in personal and SME loans respectively.
Oban’s PA34 4AA postcode area had £712,804 in personal and £19.16million in SME loans.
In Fort William, PH33 6AV was home to £2.64million and £12.37million in personal and SME loans respectively.
Each area will have a different mix of commercial and domestic property, let alone house and business sizes, which may account for some of the unexpected figures.
The figures – compiled by the BBA and Council of Mortgage Lenders – are based on information from Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander UK, the Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks and Nationwide Building Society.
They show Scottish businesses accounting for 6% of total UK SME turnover, but 8% of all lending in this category.
A postcode area in Peterborough had the highest figure for personal lending per head of population, at £1,978.
BBA chief economist Richard Woolhouse said: “This data gives a close-up view of SME and personal borrowing right across Great Britain.
“People can use it to look-up what the picture is like near them.
“When we look up and down the country, we can see a good spread of lending. That’s important for individuals, businesses and the wider economy.”