What is the difference between UK net borrowing and UK net debt?

Public sector net borrowing measures the UK government's monthly budget shortfall between spending and income, whereas public sector net debt is the total accumulated stock of borrowing owed.

Which subsectors of the UK public sector are covered?

The data breaks down borrowing and expenditure across UK central government, local government and public corporations.

How far back do UK public finances and borrowing series go?

Monthly UK public sector finance series compiled by the Office for National Statistics and HMRC are available since 1975.

Which individual HMRC tax receipts are tracked in this table?

The table reports receipts for Pay As You Earn Income Tax, National Insurance, Capital Gains Tax, Corporation Tax, fuel duties, spirits duties and levies like the Digital Services Tax.

UK national debt and public sector borrowing

Name: UK national debt and public sector borrowing
Creator: Office for National Statistics (ONS); GOV.UK official statistics
License: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS); GOV.UK official statisticsLast updated: Sep 28, 2026, 05:13Curated by Bui Thanh PhucAbout this data ↓

Indicator	08-2026	07-2026	06-2026	05-2026	04-2026	03-2026	02-2026	01-2026	12-2025	11-2025	10-2025	09-2025	08-2025	07-2025	06-2025	05-2025	04-2025	03-2025	02-2025	01-2025	12-2024	11-2024	10-2024	09-2024	08-2024	07-2024	06-2024	05-2024	04-2024	03-2024	02-2024	01-2024	12-2023	11-2023	10-2023	09-2023	08-2023
Public sector finances (ONS)4
Borrowing and debt9
Public sector net borrowing, excluding banks	-18,268	-2,040	-13,719	-19,873	-23,401	-12,307	-12,764	32,023	-12,930	-9,911	-16,167	-22,755	-14,939	-1,067	-24,003	-17,978	-19,642	-13,763	-11,936	14,672	-18,667	-13,531	-19,372	-18,773	-14,867	-3,956	-14,608	-17,521	-19,353	-14,354	-11,368	14,295	-8,113	-15,005	-16,470	-15,459	-11,451
Public sector net borrowing, including banks	-18,268	-2,040	-13,719	-19,873	-23,401	-12,307	-12,764	32,023	-12,930	-9,911	-16,167	-22,755	-14,939	-1,067	-24,003	-17,978	-19,642	-13,763	-11,936	14,672	-18,667	-13,531	-19,372	-18,773	-14,867	-3,956	-14,608	-16,614	-18,759	-13,446	-10,461	15,202	-7,133	-14,023	-15,488	-14,669	-10,469
Public sector net debt, excluding banks	2,985,531	2,981,989	2,992,469	2,972,575	2,938,225	2,916,811	2,886,876	2,870,360	2,924,529	2,926,310	2,896,538	2,913,287	2,906,805	2,888,967	2,867,553	2,867,535	2,824,752	2,804,908	2,794,896	2,774,414	2,815,371	2,815,553	2,780,815	2,757,737	2,758,689	2,736,295	2,730,952	2,720,093	2,675,677	2,685,620	2,670,536	2,654,218	2,695,720	2,677,450	2,650,823	2,609,820	2,607,154
Net debt, share of GDP	93.8	94	94.6	94.3	93.6	93.3	92.6	92.3	94.2	94.6	94	94.9	95.1	94.9	94.5	94.8	93.7	93.4	93.4	93	94.8	95.2	94.4	94	94.5	94.2	94.5	94.5	93.4	94.2	94	93.8	95.6	95.3	94.7	93.6	93.9
Current budget deficit, share of GDP	0.4	-0.1	0.3	0.5	0.5	-0.2	0.2	-1.4	0.2	0.1	0.4	0.5	0.4	-0.1	0.7	0.5	0.5	-0.1	0.2	-0.8	0.4	0.3	0.5	0.4	0.4	0	0.3	0.5	0.5	-0.1	0.2	-0.8	0.1	0.4	0.5	0.3	0.3
Net investment (excluding banks)	-5,857	-4,503	-3,642	-4,600	-6,768	-19,152	-7,997	-9,956	-6,136	-6,521	-4,543	-7,937	-4,339	-4,086	-4,339	-3,995	-5,889	-16,503	-6,211	-8,201	-8,046	-4,153	-4,334	-7,688	-4,619	-3,450	-4,864	-2,502	-4,596	-17,403	-6,129	-8,643	-4,841	-4,411	-3,529	-7,240	-3,166
Net investment, share of GDP	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.6	0.3	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.6	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.1	0.2	0.3	0.2	0.1	0.2	0.1	0.2	0.6	0.2	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.1	0.3	0.1
Debt interest paid (public sector)	11,215	10,471	14,246	14,115	12,179	5,584	15,330	3,880	11,502	5,705	10,988	11,961	11,086	9,921	20,044	10,603	12,422	7,696	10,577	9,792	12,112	6,806	12,747	9,279	9,954	10,601	11,711	14,198	15,375	8,925	13,355	10,449	10,401	13,566	14,650	7,021	12,073
Depreciation (public sector)	6,265	6,264	6,210	6,211	6,211	6,196	6,198	6,194	6,046	6,049	6,049	5,948	6,001	6,001	5,958	5,962	5,962	5,912	5,907	5,913	5,760	5,760	5,760	5,683	5,685	5,685	5,602	5,720	5,720	5,667	5,663	5,669	5,553	5,552	5,552	5,505	5,508
Receipts and spending4
Receipts: taxes on income and wealth	33,256	47,623	34,922	31,327	30,015	42,855	41,692	79,481	36,072	31,563	30,686	29,848	31,385	44,455	30,789	28,733	29,339	40,802	36,482	66,012	33,894	29,379	28,961	28,376	29,123	39,765	30,007	26,771	27,603	37,275	34,824	59,994	30,673	27,360	26,525	26,358	26,893
Receipts: rent and other current transfers	477	541	492	450	403	557	446	438	493	412	433	421	431	450	445	426	435	416	395	397	354	443	384	395	407	389	378	229	177	157	177	211	119	112	163	146	195
Total managed expenditure	117,237	115,853	116,027	116,585	117,918	124,284	118,537	111,448	115,039	106,505	112,131	117,114	110,208	109,748	118,173	108,911	111,656	119,460	107,978	111,531	113,632	103,011	108,535	106,501	103,206	103,594	104,037	105,300	107,707	115,831	106,152	105,801	101,629	103,813	105,217	102,930	99,009
Net social benefits (public sector)	30,295	30,456	29,624	29,407	30,412	27,687	26,269	28,468	28,770	27,557	28,541	29,865	27,715	27,842	26,897	27,595	27,050	26,703	24,619	26,656	26,613	25,786	26,132	26,022	26,745	26,501	25,552	25,612	26,091	24,148	25,569	24,322	24,321	24,773	25,397	28,212	24,112
Central government9
Central government total revenue1
Central government	93,691	109,871	97,659	91,743	88,640	108,082	101,108	138,606	97,622	91,981	91,387	90,031	91,027	103,713	88,916	85,697	86,433	102,159	91,742	122,090	90,593	84,817	84,639	83,618	83,742	95,080	84,791	80,807	80,918	95,283	87,607	113,147	86,706	81,716	81,555	80,431	80,386
Central government total expenditure1
Central government	106,986	117,293	111,444	110,313	121,204	120,661	109,044	105,396	106,984	97,623	112,262	109,742	102,579	108,931	112,157	101,525	113,491	115,733	97,764	108,118	105,580	93,704	108,919	97,171	93,040	111,113	97,804	96,173	113,353	109,221	93,074	105,574	91,044	91,875	104,752	91,559	87,613
Central government current expenditure1
Central government	97,725	103,254	101,867	99,275	104,410	97,003	97,970	90,105	97,242	87,187	96,689	96,443	94,297	95,913	102,531	92,932	98,030	93,658	88,702	91,191	93,966	86,137	92,973	86,690	85,022	90,710	88,290	88,581	92,436	86,729	83,900	82,118	82,324	83,748	87,753	80,460	80,620
Staff costs (central government)	19,847	21,407	19,433	19,335	19,211	19,628	19,259	19,359	19,450	19,113	19,211	19,100	18,853	19,172	18,835	18,821	18,427	19,277	18,646	18,252	18,282	18,457	18,233	18,152	16,549	16,559	16,593	16,563	16,248	16,491	16,144	16,156	16,070	15,990	16,035	15,890	16,009
Purchase of goods and services (central government)	18,793	19,416	18,479	18,142	17,919	21,272	19,641	19,258	19,154	17,765	18,747	18,423	17,988	18,486	17,918	17,402	17,882	18,775	18,417	18,480	18,048	18,109	17,823	16,673	16,856	18,107	17,465	17,384	16,448	19,086	16,754	17,320	17,325	17,163	17,403	16,505	15,736
Subsidies (central government)	2,801	2,279	2,858	2,872	2,857	2,649	2,543	2,511	2,659	2,575	2,658	2,619	2,455	2,448	2,441	2,429	2,355	2,526	2,408	2,417	2,452	2,378	2,347	2,299	2,369	2,372	2,381	2,370	2,250	2,497	2,370	2,590	2,513	2,473	2,312	2,244	2,304
Capital expenditure (central government)	9,261	14,039	9,577	11,038	16,794	23,658	11,074	15,291	9,742	10,436	15,573	13,299	8,282	13,018	9,626	8,593	15,461	22,075	9,062	16,927	11,614	7,567	15,946	10,481	8,018	20,403	9,514	7,592	20,917	22,492	9,174	23,456	8,720	8,127	16,999	11,099	6,993
Net social benefits payable (central government)1
Central government	29,239	29,400	28,602	28,385	29,390	26,806	25,388	27,587	27,893	26,679	27,663	29,020	27,363	27,490	26,529	27,230	26,685	26,178	24,090	26,127	26,047	25,219	25,565	25,521	26,243	25,999	25,002	25,062	25,541	23,554	24,973	23,726	23,759	24,211	24,835	27,701	23,601
Debt interest payable, excluding index-linked capital uplift1
Central government	6,659	6,768	6,966	6,755	6,749	6,463	8,151	4,350	6,408	5,583	5,789	6,720	5,755	5,903	6,133	5,706	5,513	5,108	5,572	6,127	5,575	5,345	5,497	5,607	5,114	5,011	5,198	5,179	4,811	4,624	4,985	4,936	4,688	4,723	4,634	4,257	4,222
By level of government2
Total current receipts by level of government3
Central government	89,769	104,619	93,253	87,633	85,437	102,629	96,424	134,124	93,105	87,563	86,934	85,625	86,378	99,792	85,271	82,016	83,098	96,577	86,908	117,069	86,241	80,736	80,420	79,272	79,878	91,178	81,063	77,151	77,724	90,482	83,777	109,094	83,051	78,325	78,262	77,117	77,197
Local government	6,035	6,035	6,050	6,049	6,049	5,760	5,761	5,761	5,910	5,911	5,911	5,686	5,703	5,703	5,825	5,825	5,825	5,529	5,527	5,527	5,603	5,606	5,606	5,456	5,458	5,458	5,495	5,500	5,500	5,339	5,340	5,340	5,299	5,299	5,299	5,268	5,267
Public corporations	1,210	1,210	1,076	1,074	1,074	1,768	1,770	1,770	1,296	1,299	1,299	1,230	1,199	1,199	1,154	1,154	1,154	1,748	1,751	1,751	1,282	1,283	1,283	1,151	1,149	1,149	1,033	1,034	1,034	1,675	1,679	1,679	1,254	1,254	1,254	1,169	1,166
Total current expenditure by level of government3
Central government	93,852	98,073	97,511	95,221	101,247	91,646	93,338	85,576	92,785	82,827	92,312	92,116	89,779	92,048	98,919	89,284	94,727	88,655	84,198	86,702	89,686	82,113	88,821	82,574	81,230	86,888	84,628	85,015	89,542	82,774	80,601	78,717	78,896	80,479	84,548	77,342	77,505
Local government	8,923	4,665	6,362	8,233	1,336	4,971	8,695	7,401	7,770	8,671	6,742	8,576	7,269	4,616	5,923	6,633	1,854	5,208	8,557	7,455	6,892	7,718	6,143	7,020	8,187	3,874	5,196	6,176	1,932	4,058	8,039	7,014	6,616	7,635	5,758	6,927	6,947
Public corporations	43	43	44	44	44	42	42	42	41	42	42	42	42	42	41	42	42	38	38	38	40	41	41	40	41	41	41	40	40	39	39	39	39	40	40	39	39
HMRC tax receipts and expenditure10
Total HMRC receipts	68,886	97,999	74,055	65,414	85,214	78,194	75,743	126,444	79,235	64,944	75,323	71,201	63,052	92,843	67,110	62,823	80,851	70,541	68,846	112,022	70,162	61,366	69,316	64,008	60,617	83,691	63,893	58,335	75,852	67,232	66,329	107,792	65,540	59,566	67,399	61,845	61,641
Total paid over to the Consolidated Fund	66,216	97,476	72,629	64,461	85,368	75,254	73,507	125,510	76,978	62,444	74,787	71,246	62,028	90,812	66,239	61,181	79,125	68,699	70,956	106,405	69,368	59,755	69,907	63,533	57,993	81,248	62,259	55,815	73,649	64,181	62,273	105,243	65,838	56,940	64,232	60,144	58,607
Penalties	100	68	109	70	27	163	92	81	72	60	76	67	85	65	83	70	82	99	76	74	52	60	56	51	86	71	63	60	79	102	123	100	74	66	96	88	146
Income and capital taxes4
Income Tax	24,330	40,889	23,610	22,022	31,039	25,497	27,956	51,255	25,244	21,704	21,613	22,053	21,775	37,751	21,052	21,208	29,822	23,560	25,224	49,304	22,537	20,515	19,882	19,386	20,942	33,465	20,220	20,207	27,554	21,842	23,468	42,276	19,774	19,178	18,798	17,699	19,952
Pay As You Earn Income Tax	24,079	23,439	23,831	24,222	32,329	25,421	23,889	23,582	22,075	21,431	21,518	22,298	21,005	22,779	21,302	22,224	30,714	23,611	22,021	23,299	20,372	20,051	19,486	19,474	19,800	21,543	20,066	21,074	28,120	21,465	19,917	20,612	18,256	18,368	18,580	17,961	18,881
Self-Assessment Income Tax	1,476	17,140	1,096	9	-653	521	4,218	27,589	3,054	587	447	497	1,304	15,452	874	77	-549	601	3,242	25,860	2,449	585	430	448	1,503	12,764	705	-49	-373	730	3,704	21,723	1,738	553	300	141	1,512
Capital Gains Tax	198	194	192	168	162	530	3,018	18,948	231	224	230	207	190	165	144	232	191	412	1,387	10,033	335	222	251	192	197	183	157	161	156	500	1,926	10,620	159	172	174	165	170
National Insurance contributions4
National Insurance contributions	16,641	19,074	16,738	14,760	20,918	17,698	17,316	18,579	16,780	16,079	16,181	16,400	15,810	18,164	15,313	14,941	17,568	15,137	14,563	16,920	14,011	13,496	13,542	13,031	13,189	15,607	12,988	12,856	17,178	14,575	14,412	18,022	14,167	14,315	14,396	13,808	14,422
Employer National Insurance (Class 1)	12,449	13,185	12,048	11,307	15,551	13,104	12,597	12,599	11,940	11,638	11,638	11,853	11,400	12,852	10,954	10,664	12,665	10,522	9,880	10,182	9,493	9,200	9,170	8,895	8,980	10,404	8,848	8,738	11,756	9,619	9,159	9,608	8,429	8,604	8,635	8,371	8,685
Employee National Insurance (Class 1)	4,273	4,222	4,274	4,130	4,642	4,186	4,153	4,226	4,124	4,000	4,088	4,150	3,983	4,196	3,915	3,899	4,482	3,988	3,955	4,148	3,975	3,912	3,915	3,758	3,778	3,976	3,783	3,779	5,091	4,568	4,544	5,672	5,263	5,301	5,281	5,146	5,312
Self-employed National Insurance (Class 2 and 4)	69	794	51	0	-30	26	206	1,351	145	28	21	24	62	735	42	4	-26	50	272	2,168	174	42	31	32	107	909	50	-4	-27	81	410	2,407	169	54	29	14	147
Business and sector taxes10
Corporation Tax	2,416	6,332	15,193	3,316	4,981	15,354	2,671	6,513	18,322	2,566	5,809	14,488	3,119	5,806	13,006	2,967	4,484	13,388	2,971	6,904	16,575	2,429	6,108	14,188	3,199	5,434	12,354	3,049	4,314	13,048	3,106	8,027	14,362	2,777	5,542	13,842	1,918
Offshore Corporation Tax		317						935			406			868						1,125			332			505						1,306			783
Bank Levy		416			294			390			413			344			296			369			317			359			274			577			299
Bank Corporation Tax Surcharge			324			328			309			258			275			278			179			271			245			245			332			442
Diverted Profits Tax						604												105												108
Digital Services Tax						944												808												678
Residential Property Developer Tax						46						43						43						59						39						64
Electricity Generators Levy						41												45			130			299			275			336			330			807
Petroleum Revenue Tax	-29	-63	0	0	0	-177	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-266	0	0	0	0	-112	-62	0	0	0	0	-44	-132	0	0	0	0	-11	-153	0	-3	-3	-119	-118
Apprenticeship Levy	364	372	369	359	458	395	385	375	338	336	362	349	341	361	341	333	474	365	345	356	329	336	330	327	320	334	315	329	413	343	326	338	296	310	305	299	306
Taxes on spending12
Value Added Tax	15,874	20,233	10,276	15,950	18,310	10,073	16,225	21,753	9,923	14,915	20,282	9,870	13,021	20,116	9,944	14,848	18,890	9,586	16,165	19,317	8,613	15,406	18,654	9,146	14,145	18,540	10,363	13,472	17,588	9,169	15,230	19,719	8,987	14,479	18,332	7,514	15,429
Fuel duties	2,123	1,998	2,026	2,006	2,335	1,786	2,043	1,985	2,098	2,256	2,017	2,208	2,031	2,055	1,926	2,122	2,032	2,041	2,155	1,780	1,904	2,253	1,983	2,059	2,054	2,116	2,067	2,044	1,903	2,030	2,115	1,841	2,102	2,234	2,122	1,962	2,555
Tobacco duties	499	983	652	587	696	577	461	431	647	593	644	732	646	773	669	599	796	478	668	610	493	755	653	798	797	783	619	459	814	687	657	901	751	671	715	927	865
Spirits duties	452	256	299	330	277	282	400	207	486	533	356	266	375	291	395	209	269	275	347	283	590	347	372	323	320	316	352	320	309	269	238	256	471	392	307	193	528
Beer duties	389	298	282	345	249	188	307	252	300	318	257	291	323	305	346	285	289	167	308	297	313	285	268	293	322	317	359	303	286	238	215	286	343	299	264	255	404
Wine duties	434	374	338	366	370	357	390	289	528	468	441	349	391	348	404	297	346	321	426	315	585	387	406	366	381	384	378	393	381	328	313	362	462	399	360	253	623
Cider duties	36	26	28	28	22	17	30	19	24	31	21	25	29	27	33	22	18	8	16	18	21	13	15	22	19	27	26	22	15	17	7	20	20	22	15	15	24
Betting and gaming duties	220	948	116	177	692	151	177	643	133	189	612	140	162	642	160	178	644	128	149	640	151	146	622	147	119	629	124	136	624	132	136	586	127	160	572	126	145
Air Passenger Duty	481	445	414	362	334	318	356	409	355	435	383	434	439	398	392	363	336	298	297	360	311	376	378	374	403	357	346	305	320	280	279	323	292	353	347	347	371
Insurance Premium Tax	1,524	789	52	1,621	499	88	1,255	872	43	1,258	985	40	1,301	1,025	41	1,481	648	61	1,259	853	53	1,201	956	73	1,352	957	69	1,431	615	77	1,526	439	76	1,263	770	71	1,159
Soft Drinks Industry Levy	0	97	0	1	86	5	0	86	3	0	93	0	0	86	0	1	80	0	1	80	0	0	82	0	0	84	0	0	77	1	2	76	0	0	86	0	1
Customs duties	454	425	438	370	448	463	381	367	406	429	453	464	433	409	382	375	409	368	370	393	436	468	434	424	395	383	433	357	435	304	353	371	378	480	410	455	420
Property and wealth taxes4
Stamp Duty Land Tax	1,222	1,386	1,239	1,068	1,287	1,157	995	899	1,725	1,371	1,531	1,454	1,314	1,422	1,055	930	1,306	1,408	1,051	848	1,517	1,310	1,357	1,103	1,112	1,185	1,016	1,018	957	864	781	808	1,112	973	1,119	1,015	1,125
Stamp Duty on shares	332	425	421	495	467	482	412	353	441	358	457	302	373	366	333	399	459	423	330	287	347	455	391	263	384	335	350	389	368	287	292	203	322	242	266	223	283
Inheritance Tax	598	868	871	730	715	755	614	537	769	588	811	671	658	844	738	701	780	671	612	639	620	665	776	736	697	749	701	701	683	676	564	556	547	594	691	623	644
Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings	2	4	6	15	86	3	3	3	3	4	3	4	3	4	11	19	79	2	2	1	3	4	4	4	3	4	4	24	78	1	3	2	3	3	4	7	4
Environmental taxes5
Climate Change Levy	131	245	30	186	338	26	195	250	17	140	174	25	126	233	30	176	399	35	169	299	21	159	167	24	135	227	26	240	289	19	193	238	21	117	248	22	194
Energy Profits Levy		762						716			920			928						952			1,114			791						857			967	692
Landfill Tax	65	52	5	38	35	25	23	142	14	58	91	22	68	73	16	26	65	15	35	50	15	44	87	13	56	75	22	27	49	19	37	46	12	39	86	21	34
Aggregates Levy	26	44	18	40	31	15	35	36	20	29	47	20	32	48	20	34	33	16	25	45	19	29	46	19	30	48	19	25	39	14	33	34	17	27	48	18	30
Plastic Packaging Tax	4	60	10	3	56	2	3	55	4	3	59	1	5	61	-1	7	57	1	4	58	1	5	59	0	4	60	0	6	55	2	6	62	3	6	59	1	6
HMRC expenditure (money paid out)3
Child Benefit payments	1,185	1,187	1,147	1,180	1,074	1,194	1,018	1,121	1,125	1,083	1,113	1,070	1,161	1,161	1,123	1,156	1,112	1,133	1,021	1,126	1,112	1,079	1,110	1,066	1,157	1,156	1,112	1,145	1,085	1,058	986	1,050	1,042	1,013	1,043	1,006	1,088
Tax-Free Childcare	39	53	56	46	50	55	42	47	47	39	46	50	44	60	58	56	56	55	49	55	50	46	52	50	47	62	49	56	60	51	54	61	46	52	57	50	49
Child and Working Tax Credits						-59												-11	2	18	46	60	92	120	209	278	273	369	424	433	459	506	587	578	606	597	765

Latest reading

Public sector net borrowing, excluding banks stood at -£18,268m in Aug 2026. That is −£16,228m from Jul 2026 and −£3,329m from a year earlier. The series on this page is monthly and runs from Jan 1993 to Aug 2026. Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS); GOV.UK official statistics.

Latest: -£18,268m; Aug 2026
vs previous period: −£16,228m; Jul 2026
vs a year earlier: −£3,329m

About this data

The UK public finances in one table: net borrowing and net debt in cash terms, the total managed expenditure and the receipts that fund it, the same balances measured against GDP — the form every UK fiscal rule is actually written in — what the money is spent on by economic category, and who raises and spends it, with central government, local government and public corporations shown separately back to 1963. Monthly, from the Office for National Statistics. Also on this page: HMRC tax receipts tax by tax — income tax, National Insurance, VAT, corporation tax, duties and property taxes — and HMRC expenditure.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between UK net borrowing and UK net debt?: Public sector net borrowing measures the UK government's monthly budget shortfall between spending and income, whereas public sector net debt is the total accumulated stock of borrowing owed.
Which subsectors of the UK public sector are covered?: The data breaks down borrowing and expenditure across UK central government, local government and public corporations.
How far back do UK public finances and borrowing series go?: Monthly UK public sector finance series compiled by the Office for National Statistics and HMRC are available since 1975.
Which individual HMRC tax receipts are tracked in this table?: The table reports receipts for Pay As You Earn Income Tax, National Insurance, Capital Gains Tax, Corporation Tax, fuel duties, spirits duties and levies like the Digital Services Tax.