Correct as at 3 November 2026.
UK public sector net debt provisionally passed £3 trillion in September and borrowing for the month ran 7.7% above a year earlier, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
Net debt is the amount owed to the UK private sector and overseas, less liquid assets. Borrowing is the gap between public sector spending and income.
Has UK debt passed £3 trillion?
Yes, provisionally, at £3,005.0bn at the end of September.
That is £91.7bn more than a year earlier. It first exceeded £2 trillion in June 2020, during the pandemic, and £1 trillion in February 2010, after the global financial crisis.
The ONS said the figure may be revised as more data arrive. It has already revised once: its estimate of net debt at the end of August was cut by £4.4bn, or 0.1%, to £2,981.2bn.
Measured against the economy, debt is lower than a year ago. It stood at 94.0% of GDP, 0.7 percentage points below a year earlier and 1.2 points below the forecast of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).
The ONS said that reflects GDP at current prices growing faster than debt.
On a wider measure, public sector net financial liabilities, which includes extra financial assets and liabilities, were £2,643.4bn, which is £121.7bn more than a year earlier.
How does borrowing compare with a year ago?
Higher in September, lower over the financial year so far.
Borrowing in September was £24.5bn against £22.8bn in September 2025, an increase of £1.8bn as published. It was the second-highest September on record, behind 2020, before adjusting for inflation.
The ONS said spending, including higher debt interest costs, rose faster than income. Central government borrowed £21.2bn, which is £1.5bn more than a year earlier, despite higher tax receipts.
Over the financial year to September, borrowing was £97.8bn against £102.3bn a year earlier, a fall of £4.4bn, or 4.3%.
The current budget deficit, which is borrowing to fund day-to-day activity, was £64.0bn in the same period against £69.7bn, a drop of 8.2%. It was £15.8bn in September alone.
Set against the forecast, the OBR had pencilled in £91.8bn of borrowing for the period, so the £97.8bn outturn was £6.0bn higher. The ONS said central government and public corporations borrowed more than forecast.
The current budget deficit was £2.4bn above forecast.
Revisions can move the totals. The ONS cut its estimate of borrowing for the financial year to August by £4.0bn, from £77.3bn to £73.3bn.
Last year as a whole, the public sector borrowed £134.2bn in the year to March 2026, or 4.4% of GDP, against an OBR forecast of 4.3%.
What does the OBR expect next?
More borrowing than it forecast in March.
In its October outlook, the OBR said borrowing would be higher than in March in every forecast year: by around £18bn this year, £16bn in 2027-28 and an average of £11bn a year after that. It described “a moderate deterioration in the medium-term fiscal outlook”, mainly because of higher debt interest costs.
It expects net debt to peak at around 97% of GDP in 2028-29 and ease to 96% in 2031-32. It said debt on its main measure would be no lower in 2031-32 than this year.
The OBR put debt interest at 3.5% of GDP, or £109bn, in 2025-26, up from 1.7%, or £39bn, in 2019-20. It also said a 1% change in interest rates could move annual interest costs by £16bn.
The OBR’s central forecast carries uncertainty. Higher, sustained energy prices could lift borrowing by £17bn in 2027-28, while a lower path could cut it by £12bn.
The ONS and HM Treasury publish the figures jointly each month. The ONS said it is reviewing release times for market-sensitive statistics, including these.
The government has legislated for fiscal targets that, since January 2025, centre on the current budget deficit and net financial liabilities. The OBR said the current budget mandate for 2029-30 is met by a margin of £15bn.
