That figure does not including student loans or mortgages and a fifth of young people say they are losing sleep over it.
According to National Debtline, which is run by the Money Advice Trust, half of under 25s worry about money regularly.
Rachel Gregory from Christians Against Poverty told Premier's News Hour it can be easy to slip into debt.
She said: "For under-25s around a third of the debt they have when they come to us for help is what we call 'priority debts' - rent arrears, energy bills, priority bills that they've just struggled to keep up with."
Low income and high living costs are commonly affecting people across all age ranges, she added.
She also said that debt is often not spoken about until it has reached breaking point: "Often people tell us they had no idea where they could turn to for help, they didn't feel like it was something they could talk to their friends or family about.
"Debt is often suffered with in silence and what we sadly see is that a third of the people that come to us are considering suicide as a way out of their debt problems."
Listen to Premier's Aaron James speak to Rachel Gregory here:
