Australian households have a well-deserved reputation for taking on large amounts of debt – and recent numbers show why.

According to the Bureau of Statistics, household debt has now increased to $1.8 trillion, or $79,000 for each person in the country.

Low interest rates make it easier to pay off the bank more quickly. Credit:Gabriele Charotte

After adjusting for inflation, this is higher than it's been at any time in the last 25 years, despite the global financial crisis causing consumers to be much more cautious.

The ratio of debt to disposable assets has also started to climb again, and is at a three-year high of 148 per cent. Debt to total income is also higher than in a bunch of wealthy countries including the UK, US, Japan, Germany, Canada and France.