Public debt passes 3 trillion pounds for the first time as September borrowing reaches 24.5 billion pounds
The Government borrowed 24.5 billion pounds in September, the second highest September figure on record, and debt interest cost 10.9 billion pounds in the month. Half year borrowing is running 6 billion pounds above the official forecast.
Public sector net debt has exceeded 3 trillion pounds for the first time, on provisional figures published by the Office for National Statistics on Wednesday. Debt at the end of September 2026 was provisionally estimated at 3,005.0 billion pounds, 91.7 billion pounds more than a year earlier.
As a share of the economy the picture moved the other way. Net debt was equivalent to 94.0 per cent of gross domestic product, 0.7 percentage points lower than a year earlier, although the ONS notes that the ratio remains at levels last seen in the early 1960s. Debt first passed 1 trillion pounds in February 2010, after the global financial crisis, and 2 trillion pounds in June 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic.
Borrowing in September itself was 24.5 billion pounds, 1.8 billion pounds, or 7.7 per cent, more than in September 2025, and 1.9 billion pounds above the forecast of the Office for Budget Responsibility. The ONS describes it as the second highest September borrowing on record, behind only September 2020, on figures not adjusted for inflation. Spending grew faster than receipts, and the statistics office attributes the increase in part to the effects of inflation.
September borrowing was the second highest for the month on record, behind only 2020Office for National Statistics, September 2026 bulletin
Debt interest was the sharpest single pressure. Central government debt interest payable was 10.9 billion pounds in September, 1.6 billion pounds more than a year earlier and 2.0 billion pounds above the OBR forecast. The ONS says it was the highest September figure since monthly records began in 1997, and only the eighth month in which interest payable has exceeded 10 billion pounds. Of the September total, 4.0 billion pounds was capital uplift on index linked gilts, which the ONS links mainly to the rise of 0.6 per cent in the Retail Prices Index between June and July 2026.
Across the first half of the financial year, borrowing was 97.8 billion pounds. That is 4.4 billion pounds, or 4.3 per cent, less than in the same period last year, but 6.0 billion pounds above the OBR forecast, and it amounts to 3.1 per cent of GDP. In the ONS ranking of such periods, it stands 10th among April to September totals since comparable monthly records started in 1993. The House of Commons Library, working from the same series, rounds the half year total to 98 billion pounds and likewise records it as around 6 billion pounds above the March 2026 forecast.
Both sides of the forecast comparison moved the wrong way for the Treasury in part. Central government receipts in the half year were 5.8 billion pounds above forecast, helped by Corporation Tax, compulsory social contributions, largely National Insurance, and Income Tax, partly offset by lower Stamp Duties and Value Added Tax. Central government spending was 8.9 billion pounds above forecast, with debt interest 3.8 billion pounds higher and net social benefit payments, including pensions, 2.5 billion pounds higher.
Within September, central government borrowed 21.2 billion pounds. Its current receipts were 90.1 billion pounds, 5.2 per cent higher than a year earlier, on strong growth in income related taxes, while its current expenditure was 98.6 billion pounds. The month's social benefit figures include an estimated 1.9 billion pounds accrued for Winter Fuel Payments, which are recognised in September, when eligibility is determined, although the payments themselves are made from November.
The wider balance sheet measure, public sector net financial liabilities, was provisionally estimated at 2,643.4 billion pounds at the end of September, equivalent to 82.7 per cent of GDP and 0.7 percentage points higher than a year earlier. The Commons Library records net financial liabilities as the measure targeted in the Government's fiscal targets. The current budget deficit, borrowing for day to day activities, was 64.0 billion pounds across the half year, 5.7 billion pounds less than a year earlier but 2.4 billion pounds above forecast.
The ONS cautions that its estimates for the most recent months are susceptible to revision, and that the debt figure itself is provisional. The next test of the numbers comes on 28 October 2026, when the Office for Budget Responsibility publishes its next economic and fiscal outlook.
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