Main menu For students For teachers Explore our subjects Student events & courses

Teaching Economics

In the News

Surge in borrowing takes UK national debt above 100% of GDP

Graham Watson

19th June 2020

Share this content:

Wow! The latest data about the public finances sees government borrowing hit a record level in May 2020, and the biggest since records began (in 1993).

Total government borrowing was £55.2bn - a remarkable nine times larger than this time last year, to the extent that government debt exceeded the size of the economy for the first time since 1963. As a result, the fiscal deficit for the financial year is already over £100bn.

We've curated below some of the initial response to this news about the surge in government borrowing and debt. Paul Johnson from the IFS provides some important long-run historical context at the bottom of this page.

Share this content:

Graham Watson

Graham Watson has taught Economics for over twenty years. He contributes to Tutor2U, reads voraciously and is interested in all aspects of Teaching and Learning.