Skip to content
Special feature · United Kingdom · From ONS public sector finances and OBR forecasts

UK National Debt Clock

An estimated running count of the UK's public sector net debt, built from the Office for National Statistics' latest official figure and the Office for Budget Responsibility's borrowing forecast, and what the debt costs to carry.

£3,021,652,061,405

Official figure: £3,005.0bn at the end of September 2026 (ONS, October 21, 2026). The ticking number is a simplified proxy: it adds the OBR's 2026-27 borrowing forecast of £133 billion, about £4,215 a second, counted from the end of that month, so every reader sees the same figure at the same moment. Borrowing and the change in net debt are close but not the same (see section 03). It is a model, not a live reading: the ONS publishes the real figure once a month, next on 20 November 2026.

£43,487Per person: the debt divided by 69.48 million people (ONS, mid-2025)
94.0%of GDP at the end of September 2026
£364ma day: the 2026-27 borrowing forecast (OBR, October 2026)
£99.0bncentral government interest in the 12 months to September 2026

01Understanding UK Public Debt

Public sector net debt is what central government, local councils and public corporations owe, minus the cash and other liquid assets they hold. It is the number in the news. The ONS publishes it every month, about three weeks after the month ends, and also publishes two other measures that leave different things in or out.

£3,005.0bnNet debt, excluding public sector banks: the headline figure, 94.0% of GDP
£2,897.8bnNet debt, also excluding the Bank of England, whose bond buying and lending schemes add to the headline figure
£2,643.4bnNet financial liabilities, which also subtracts loans and shares the state owns; the measure the current debt rule uses

All three at the end of September 2026, from the ONS public sector finances release of October 21, 2026. "Public sector banks" are the banks taken into public ownership in 2008, and left out of all three measures.

Which one to useThe headline figure, net debt excluding public sector banks, is the one the clock counts and the one most reports quote. The gap between it and net financial liabilities, £362bn, is mostly student loans and other financial assets the government owns but cannot easily sell.

02What the Debt Costs

Central government paid £60.8bn in net interest from April to September 2026, the first 6 months of the 2026-27 financial year, and £99.0bn over the last 12 months: about £1,425 for every person in the UK. The OBR put debt interest spending at £109 billion in 2025-26 and expects it to reach £160 billion by 2031-32.

MonthNet interest payableNet borrowing
April 2026£9.8bn£23.1bn
May 2026£11.7bn£19.3bn
June 2026£11.8bn£13.3bn
July 2026£7.7bn£0.4bn
August 2026£8.9bn£17.3bn
September 2026£10.9bn£24.5bn
2026-27 so far£60.8bn£97.8bn

ONS series NMFX (central government net interest payable) and J5II (public sector net borrowing excluding public sector banks), not seasonally adjusted. Interest swings from month to month because the inflation uplift on index-linked gilts is booked as it accrues: index-linked gilts, tied to the Retail Prices Index, made up 25.2% of the gilt portfolio at the end of 2025 (Debt Management Office), so the interest bill rises and falls with inflation.

03How Fast Is the Debt Growing?

The government borrowed £97.8bn from April to September 2026. Borrowing, the gap between spending and revenue, is the main reason net debt rises, but the two are not the same: lending such as student loans, the Bank of England's schemes, timing differences between when taxes and spending are recorded and when cash moves, and changes in the value of assets and debts also move net debt, as the ONS methodological guide explains. Over the 12 months to September 2026, the public sector borrowed £129.8bn and net debt rose by £91.7bn. The clock uses the OBR's borrowing forecast as a simplified proxy for the rise in debt.

Financial yearPublic sector net borrowingStatus
2025-26£134bnOutturn, 4.4% of GDP
2026-27£133bnForecast, 4.2% of GDP
2030-31£67bnForecast, 1.8% of GDP

From the OBR's Economic and fiscal outlook, October 2026, published with the Budget on October 28, 2026. The OBR expects net debt excluding the Bank of England to be 92% of GDP in 2026-27 and to settle around 94% at the end of its forecast.

04Debt as a Share of GDP Since 1993

0%20%40%60%80%100%1995200020052010201520202025March 1993: 26.7% of GDP, GBP 201.9bnMarch 1994: 31.2% of GDP, GBP 249.8bnMarch 1995: 34.6% of GDP, GBP 290.0bnMarch 1996: 36.1% of GDP, GBP 322.1bnMarch 1997: 36.7% of GDP, GBP 347.0bnMarch 1998: 36.6% of GDP, GBP 360.4bnMarch 1999: 35.2% of GDP, GBP 363.1bnMarch 2000: 32.5% of GDP, GBP 353.3bnMarch 2001: 28.3% of GDP, GBP 322.0bnMarch 2002: 28.1% of GDP, GBP 330.6bnMarch 2003: 29.8% of GDP, GBP 369.2bnMarch 2004: 31.0% of GDP, GBP 404.5bnMarch 2005: 33.5% of GDP, GBP 460.9bnMarch 2006: 34.3% of GDP, GBP 499.4bnMarch 2007: 35.1% of GDP, GBP 535.2bnMarch 2008: 35.6% of GDP, GBP 567.2bnMarch 2009: 50.3% of GDP, GBP 787.2bnMarch 2010: 64.4% of GDP, GBP 1,027.9bnMarch 2011: 70.6% of GDP, GBP 1,168.7bnMarch 2012: 73.8% of GDP, GBP 1,261.1bnMarch 2013: 77.0% of GDP, GBP 1,366.2bnMarch 2014: 78.6% of GDP, GBP 1,461.1bnMarch 2015: 81.1% of GDP, GBP 1,552.3bnMarch 2016: 80.6% of GDP, GBP 1,595.0bnMarch 2017: 82.5% of GDP, GBP 1,714.6bnMarch 2018: 81.5% of GDP, GBP 1,760.1bnMarch 2019: 79.4% of GDP, GBP 1,778.0bnMarch 2020: 84.1% of GDP, GBP 1,814.8bnMarch 2021: 95.2% of GDP, GBP 2,157.7bnMarch 2022: 93.9% of GDP, GBP 2,379.7bnMarch 2023: 92.7% of GDP, GBP 2,542.7bnMarch 2024: 93.7% of GDP, GBP 2,684.1bnMarch 2025: 92.9% of GDP, GBP 2,806.7bnMarch 2026: 93.2% of GDP, GBP 2,916.8bnSeptember 2026: 94.0% of GDP, GBP 3,005.0bn

Public sector net debt excluding public sector banks as a percentage of GDP, monthly (ONS series HF6X). Hover over a point for the year-end figure in pounds. The two big steps are the 2008 financial crisis and the 2020 pandemic.

05The Long View: 300 Years of UK Debt

Today's ratio is high for peacetime, but not by the standard of the UK's wars. The national debt approached 180% of GDP after the Napoleonic Wars and close to 250% after the Second World War, and both times it was brought down over decades by growth, inflation and budget surpluses, not paid off.

1700-0122% Start of the series1815180% End of the Napoleonic Wars (close to 180%)1913-1429% Eve of the First World War, a 200-year low1918-19143% After the First World War1939135% Start of the Second World War1946-47250% All-time high after the Second World War (close to 250%)1991-9224% Post-war low2022-23100% After the financial crisis, the pandemic and the energy crisis

Government debt as a share of GDP at milestones, from the OBR's 300 years of UK public finance data. Older years use the OBR's long-run series, which joins earlier measures of government debt to today's public sector net debt. Its 2022-23 figure (about 100%) is higher than the 92.7% the ONS now shows for March 2023 in the chart above: the OBR series was compiled in July 2023 from the figures available then and joins older measures of government debt to today's, and the ONS has since revised both debt and GDP for recent years. Read the long view as milestones; use the ONS chart for the modern figures.

06Questions

How much is the UK national debt?

Public sector net debt, excluding public sector banks, was £3,005.0bn at the end of September 2026, or 94.0% of GDP, according to the Office for National Statistics. The clock on this page adds the OBR's borrowing forecast since then.

How much does the UK pay in interest on its debt?

Central government paid £99.0bn in net interest in the 12 months to September 2026. The OBR put debt interest spending at £109 billion in 2025-26.

How much UK debt is there per person?

About £43,247 at the end of September 2026, dividing net debt by the ONS mid-2025 population of 69.48 million.

Why are there different figures for UK debt?

The ONS publishes net debt excluding public sector banks (the headline), net debt also excluding the Bank of England, and net financial liabilities, which subtracts financial assets such as student loans. Each is used for different purposes, including the government's fiscal rules.

When is the UK debt figure updated?

The ONS publishes public sector finances once a month, usually around the 20th; the next release is 20 November 2026. This page picks up each release automatically the same day.

07Three Clocks, Three Measures

DaveManuel.com runs debt clocks for the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Each follows its own government's headline measure, and the three measure different things, so their totals and per-person figures cannot be compared directly.

ClockHeadline measureWhat it countsSource
United Kingdomthis pagePublic sector net debt, excluding public sector banksWhat central government, local councils and public corporations owe, minus their cash and other liquid assets.Office for National Statistics, Public sector finances
United StatesGross federal debt (total public debt outstanding)Everything the U.S. Treasury owes, including the debt held by federal trust funds such as Social Security. Nothing is subtracted. State and local debt is not included.U.S. Treasury, Debt to the Penny
CanadaFederal debt (accumulated deficit)The federal government's total liabilities minus its financial and non-financial assets, such as buildings and equipment. Provincial and municipal debt is not included.Finance Canada, Annual Financial Report and budget

For a like-for-like comparison between countries, use general government gross debt as a share of GDP, which the IMF publishes on one basis for every country in its Global Debt Database.

08Sources

  1. Office for National Statistics, Public sector finances, UK, monthly; series HF6W, HF6X, CPPH, JSK7, J5II and NMFX (dataset PUSF), latest release October 21, 2026.
  2. Office for Budget Responsibility, Economic and fiscal outlook, October 2026.
  3. Office for National Statistics, Population estimates for the UK: mid-2025.
  4. Office for Budget Responsibility, 300 years of UK public finance data (July 20, 2023), articles.obr.uk.

Corrections and Updates

DateWhat changed
November 15, 2026The clock is now described as a simplified proxy: it runs at the OBR borrowing forecast, but borrowing and the rise in net debt are not the same, and the page now shows both for the last 12 months. The long-view 2022-23 figure is reconciled with the ONS chart, and a new section explains that the U.S., Canada and UK clocks measure different things.

Every correction to a published figure on this site is logged on Sources and Methods.

Cite This Page

This page is free to cite and link. Its figures come from Office for National Statistics, Public sector finances (series HF6W, HF6X, CPPH, JSK7, J5II, NMFX); Office for Budget Responsibility, Economic and fiscal outlook and are kept current, so please include the date you accessed it.

FormatCitationCopy
PlainDave Manuel, “UK National Debt Clock,” DaveManuel.com, updated November 15, 2026, https://www.davemanuel.com/uk-national-debt-clock.php (accessed November 15, 2026).Copy
APAManuel, D. (2026). UK National Debt Clock. DaveManuel.com. Retrieved November 15, 2026, from https://www.davemanuel.com/uk-national-debt-clock.phpCopy
ChicagoManuel, Dave. “UK National Debt Clock.” DaveManuel.com. Accessed November 15, 2026. https://www.davemanuel.com/uk-national-debt-clock.php.Copy
Wikipedia{{cite web |url=https://www.davemanuel.com/uk-national-debt-clock.php |title=UK National Debt Clock |last=Manuel |first=Dave |website=DaveManuel.com |access-date=2026-11-15}}Copy
Link (HTML)<a href="https://www.davemanuel.com/uk-national-debt-clock.php">UK National Debt Clock (DaveManuel.com)</a>Copy

Source data: Office for National Statistics, Public sector finances (series HF6W, HF6X, CPPH, JSK7, J5II, NMFX); Office for Budget Responsibility, Economic and fiscal outlook. Updates: Monthly, the day the ONS publishes. Page last updated November 15, 2026. How we build our data pages.