Metric permalink
Public sector net borrowing
Part of the Fiscal Resilience domain. Annual public sector net borrowing as a percentage of GDP, measuring the flow of new borrowing relative to economic capacity.
Latest data
Latest reading
2026
Change between the two latest observations (2025 to 2026), in stress score.
A higher reading is treated as worse for this indicator.
Score composition
Stress score
Since the August 2026 release
What changed on this indicator between the two releases: method only.
Blended from two measured components: (2/3 weight) and trend (1/3 weight); where no trend can be computed the metric is scored on its level alone. Volatility is published as a diagnostic and does not enter the blend. Full formula on the methodology page.
Level · 2/3 weight
Percentile: this metric is scored against its own history, where today sits between its best and worst recorded years.
Trend · 1/3 weight
Measured from the direction and size of the change between the two most recent readings.
Volatility · diagnostic, not blended
100Measured from how much this indicator has swung period on period across its recorded history.
Data confidence and provenance
Confidence and source
How much weight to put on the reading, the mean data-confidence across the component metrics (source quality, recency and completeness).
Source
Public sector finances
- Update frequency
- Monthly
- Reliability
- high
Provenance
- Provider
- ONS
- Series ID
- J5IJ/PUSF
- Frequency
- quarterly
- Accessed
- 25 August 2026
Known weakness
Monthly estimates are heavily revised in subsequent months; cyclically adjusted borrowing (a better sustainability measure) requires OBR modelling not available monthly.
Notes
Verified official value from ONS (J5IJ/PUSF), accessed 2026-08-25.
Historical values
History
| Period | Value | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 2.7 | |
| 2008 | 2.9 | |
| 2009 | 7.3 | |
| 2010 | 10.2 | |
| 2011 | 8.7 | |
| 2012 | 7.3 | |
| 2013 | 7.1 | |
| 2014 | 5.7 | |
| 2015 | 5.2 | |
| 2016 | 4.2 | |
| 2017 | 2.8 | |
| 2018 | 2.8 | |
| 2019 | 2 | |
| 2020 | 2.6 | |
| 2021 | 14.7 | |
| 2022 | 5 | |
| 2023 | 4.8 | |
| 2024 | 4.8 | |
| 2025 | 5.2 | |
| 2026 | 4.2 |