UK public sector net borrowing was £151.8B in the full financial year ended March, the third-highest financial year borrowing since March 1947, around 6.4% of GDP; public sector net debt was £2.3T at the end of March, or 96.2% of GDP: ONS

LONDON , April 26, 2022 (press release) –

How the relationship between UK public sector monthly income and expenditure leads to changes in deficit and debt.

Main points

• Public sector net borrowing excluding public sector banks (PSNB ex) was £151.8 billion or around 6.4% of gross domestic product (GDP) in the financial year ending (FYE) March 2022; this was the third-highest financial year (FY) borrowing since records began in FYE March 1947, but less than half of the £317.6 billion borrowed in the same period last year.
• The public sector current budget deficit excluding public sector banks was £89.5 billion or around 3.8% of GDP in the FYE March 2022; this was the sixth-highest FY current budget deficit since records began in FYE March 1947, but around a third of the £245.8 billion deficit in the same period last year.
• Central government receipts were £830.0 billion in the FYE March 2022, £105.3 billion more than in the FYE March 2021, of which tax receipts were £619.9 billion, an increase of £94.3 billion.
• Central government current (or day-to-day) expenditure was £893.3 billion in the FYE March 2022, £50.3 billion less than in FYE March 2021, with a reduction of £67.4 billion in subsidies being partially offset by a £30.5 billion increase in debt interest payments.
• PSNB ex was £18.1 billion in March 2022, the second-highest March borrowing since monthly records began in 1993; this was £8.8 billion less than in March 2021 but still £11.9 billion more than in March 2020.
• Central government net cash requirement (excluding UK Asset Resolution Ltd and Network Rail) was £18.7 billion in March 2022, £2.1 billion less than in March 2021, bringing the total for the FYE March 2022 to £129.2 billion.
• Public sector net debt excluding public sector banks (PSND ex) was £2,343.8 billion at the end of March 2022 or around 96.2% of GDP, an increase of £209.4 billion or 2.3 percentage points of GDP compared with March 2021 and reaching levels not seen since the early 1960s.
• Public sector net debt excluding public sector banks and the Bank of England (PSND ex BoE) was £2,025.1 billion at the end of March 2022 or around 83.1% of GDP, an increase of £121.9 billion or a reduction of 0.7 percentage points of GDP compared with March 2021.

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