Our Fiscal Position

At the end of June 2025 our Public Sector Net Debt (the National Debt) stood at £2.874 trillion. That is 96.3 % of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). At the end of June 2024 is was £2.733 trillion (95.8% of GDP). By comparison our National Debt at the end of March 2011 was £1.215 trillion (74.9% of GDP) and at the end of March 2019, prior to the covid pandemic it stood at £1.822 trillion (84.2% of GDP). The National Debt equates to around £98,000 per household.

The Debt to GDP is a ratio which is used to make comparisons with other years, countries and events and is often used to judge affordability. 

Estimates of the amount of interest that we will have to pay in the current financial year vary but it is expected to be over £120 billion. In the first quarter of the year we paid £42 billion. By comparison our current annual defence budget is around £57 billion. 

There are other financial obligations that we must bear. Some of these are considered to be 'off balance sheet'. These obligations including paying state and public sector pensions, payments relating to Private Finance Projects  (PFPs) etc. 

It is difficult to determine a clear figure to reflect these obligations but the public sector and state pension liability are believed to be around £5 trillion - most of which is unfunded. 

The government expects to spend around £1.278 trillion in the current financial year, which is about £45,000 per household. In the same period it expects to raise around £1.141 trillion, equivalent to approximately £40,000 per household. This results in a budget deficit or shortfall of approximately £137 billion.