The aggregate level of personal lending, which includes personal loans, credit cards and possibly margin lending, increased by 1.5 per cent in January 2007 over December 2006 and represents a notable recovery in growth in demand following an apparent lull in the third quarter of last year.Credit aggregates published by the Reserve Bank of Australia yesterday show that personal lending increased by 12.5 per cent in the 12 months to January 2007, up from growth of a little less than 10 per cent recorded in six out of nine months between December 2005 and August 2006. The lowest monthly rate of growth in personal was in October 2006, with growth that month of only 0.2 per cent.If an alternative data series compiled by credit reference company Veda Advantage is any guide, the growth in demand for personal loans is the driver of this growth.The credit reference bureau produces a quarterly index of demand for credit cards and personal loans based on the number of inquiries made by lenders of the firm's database.Baycorp said growth in demand for personal loans exceeded growth in demand for credit cards last year, with an increase of 7.7 per cent over 2006. Meanwhile the RBA credit aggregates show that housing credit increased by 14.6 per cent in the year to January, up from 14.5 per cent in the year to December 2006 and consistent with growth rates over the last half of 2006. Demand for business credit increased to 15.9 per cent in the year to January 2007 up from 15.8 per cent in the year to December and also consistent with growth rate over the second half of 2006.