The UK national debt and public finances

The national picture

Debt is back near the size of the whole economy

At the end of May 2026 public sector net debt was about 95.1 per cent of GDP. In cash terms that is around 2,835 billion pounds on the measure that excludes the Bank of England, the figure most often called the national debt, and about 2,984.3 billion pounds on the wider measure that excludes only the public sector banks. Debt as a share of the economy is now at a level last seen in the early 1960s. It climbed through the financial crisis, jumped again during the pandemic, and has stayed close to the size of national income ever since. The gap between the two debt measures is the Bank of England's own borrowing, which rose sharply while it was buying government bonds and is now unwinding.

Over the decades

From under a quarter of GDP to almost all of it

On the ONS measure that excludes the public sector banks, debt fell to a low of about 22 per cent of GDP in the early 1990s, then rose steadily. The financial crisis of 2008 and 2009 pushed it up by tens of points, and the pandemic took it from about 84 per cent in early 2020 to more than 95 per cent within a year, as the state borrowed heavily to support incomes and businesses. It has held near that level since. Each bar is the position at the start of the financial year, with the final point the latest monthly reading.

This year's borrowing

The deficit is what adds to the debt

Debt is the running total; borrowing is what is added to it. In May 2026 the public sector borrowed about 23.3 billion pounds, and in the first two months of the financial year, April and May, it borrowed about 46.3 billion pounds. Borrowing is far below its pandemic peak, when the state borrowed roughly 270 billion pounds in the calendar year 2020, but it remains high by the standards of the years before the financial crisis. Across calendar year 2025 the public sector borrowed about 148 billion pounds. So long as the government spends more than it raises, the debt keeps growing.

Net borrowing, public sector excluding public sector banks (ONS series J5II). Shown as pounds borrowed; a surplus would be negative. Monthly and financial year to date figures are for 2026; annual figures are calendar years.

The fuller picture

Net worth and net financial liabilities

Net debt counts money owed less liquid assets. Two broader measures bring in more of the balance sheet. Public sector net financial liabilities add in other financial assets and liabilities, such as loans made and funded pension positions; at the end of May 2026 they were about 84.7 per cent of GDP, around 2,656.8 billion pounds. Public sector net worth goes further still, setting all the government's assets, including roads, schools and other physical capital, against all its liabilities; it stood at about minus 750.4 billion pounds. A negative net worth means the state's recorded liabilities exceed its recorded assets.

Net financial liabilities as a share of GDP (ONS series CPOE) and in pounds (JSK7); net worth on the B.90 basis (J8RQ). End of May 2026.

Questions this raises

For the public finances