Hawai'i credit card holders went against the national trend during the first three months of the year by layering on more card debt, a new report shows.

Average credit card debt in Hawai'i rose by 1.45 percent from the prior quarter, and this state was one of only five in which debt increased during the period. The increase contrasted with a 1.25 percent decline in debt in the nation as a whole, according to the analysis by TransUnion LLC.

The rise comes at a time when local residents are paying increasing sums for gasoline and food prices. Nationally, TransUnion said it appears that consumers are taking stock of their debt and trying to "begin to catch up on their repayment schedule wherever possible."

"Even states like California, Florida, and Nevada who have experienced large increases over the past four quarters in their bank card delinquency rates showed a drop in the first quarter," said Ezra Becker, a principal consultant in the credit agency's financial services group.

TransUnion said the average credit card balance in Hawai'i increased to $1,788, the 13th-highest among the states and the District of Columbia.

The national average debt was $1,673.

But while Hawai'i residents carry more debt on their credit card than the national average, they do better at paying off the balances, the figures show. The state ranks 40th in terms of borrowers who are at least 90 days delinquent on one or more of their credit cards.

Hawai'i's delinquency rate is 0.95 percent, meaning about one credit card holder out of every 100 was delinquent on the payments.

The highest delinquency rate in the state was in Maui County, at 1.31 percent. Kaua'i County had the lowest at 0.74 percent.

"Although the national 90-day delinquency rate is expected to drop slightly next quarter as consumers continue to take stock of their overall debt, forecasts for the remainder of the year see delinquency to gradually edge back up to 1.20 percent and above, as increases in gas prices add to the overall financial burden of the consumer," Becker said.

TransUnion, one of the three major U.S. credit rating agencies, said it conducted the study using random samplings from its national consumer credit database.