Debt 100% of GDP: Data is big blow for new UK govt

UK state debt is as big as the country's economic output for the first time since the 1960s, data showed Friday, as the new government warns of tough fiscal decisions before its maiden budget.

Public sector net debt "was provisionally estimated at 100% of gross domestic product at the end of August", the Office for National Statistics said in a release.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has warned Britons that the budget announcement on October 30 will be "painful", with tax rises and spending cuts expected.


This warning has been echoed by finance minister Rachel Reeves, who will deliver the country's fiscal plans to parliament.

Friday's data also showed "the highest August borrowing on record, outside the (Covid) pandemic", Darren Jones, a senior official at the UK Treasury, said in a statement.

"Debt is 100 percent of GDP, the highest level since the 1960s. Because of the £22 billion black hole in our public finances we have inherited this year alone, we are now taking the tough decisions now to fix the foundations of our economy," he added.

The debt-to-GDP ratio was at 99.3% in July.