Public Finances: Key Economic Indicators

Latest data on government net borrowing and net debt.

The OBR have published their Spring Budget 2020 forecast. The OBR’s forecasts were produced too early to take account of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

Net borrowing

Government borrowing in the current financial year to date (April 2019 to February 2020) was £44 billion. This is £4 billion more than during the same period in 2018/19, an increase of 10%.

Net debt

At the end of February 2020, public sector net debt was equivalent to 79.1% of GDP which is lower than at the end of February 2019, when the debt-to-GDP ratio was 80.2% of GDP.

Definitions and notes

The ONS’s figures for 2018/19 and 2019/20 are provisional: they’re not final figures and may be revised as provisional data are replaced with final audited data.

Net borrowing – often described as the deficit – is the difference between what the government spends and what it receives in taxes over a particular time period.

Net debt is the total amount that the public sector owes – it is largely the stock of past borrowing.

All figures exclude public sector banks.