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OBR · Historical official forecasts database

Borrowing forecasts, £ billion

Year ending March 2025 Final

£152.7bnbillion

Borrowing forecasts, £ billion was £152.7bn in the year ending March 2025, up 13.4% (£18bn) from £134.7bn in the year ending March 2024.

▲ 13.4% · +£18bn against Year ending March 2024 (previous period)

  1. OBR count
  2. Year ending March 2025
  3. published 26 March 2026
  4. £PSNB
  5. row “Outturn data*”
  6. column “2024-25”
  7. cell value 152.74199999999976

The series is rising. Rule: up 13.4% from Year ending March 2024 to Year ending March 2025.

Year ending March 1971 to Year ending March 2025

Borrowing forecasts, £ billion: Year ending March 1971 to Year ending March 2025ConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeLabourLabourLabourLabourCoalitionConservativeConservativeConservativeLabour010020030019801990200020102020Year ending March 1971: -£323m £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 1972: £634m £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 1973: £1.9bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 1974: £3.4bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 1975: £5.6bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 1976: £7.7bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 1977: £7bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 1978: £6.4bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 1979: £8.7bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 1980: £8.5bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 1981: £11.5bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 1982: £6bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 1983: £8.5bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 1984: £11.8bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 1985: £12.5bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 1986: £9bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 1987: £8.7bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 1988: £5.1bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 1989: -£5.5bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 1990: £124m £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 1991: £7.3bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 1992: £23.8bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 1993: £46.3bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 1994: £51.3bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 1995: £43.9bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 1996: £35.5bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 1997: £28.9bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 1998: £10.6bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 1999: £123m £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 2000: -£11.4bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 2001: -£16.3bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 2002: £5.6bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 2003: £35bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 2004: £43.5bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 2005: £51.7bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 2006: £45.4bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 2007: £40.9bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 2008: £45.1bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 2009: £116.3bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 2010: £159.6bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 2011: £142bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 2012: £122.1bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 2013: £123.7bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 2014: £102.4bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 2015: £97.5bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 2016: £80.7bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 2017: £57.2bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 2018: £59.3bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 2019: £44.3bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 2020: £58.4bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 2021: £310.9bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 2022: £120.3bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 2023: £127.1bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 2024: £134.7bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 2025: £152.7bn £ billion · published 26 March 2026
Published valueProvisional or revisedLatestShaded bands: governments (see labels)Hover or use arrow keys to read a value

What this measures

Public sector net borrowing in cash terms: the outturn as the OBR last knew it, with every official forecast for the same year stored by the month it was made.

What this doesn’t measure

The latest ONS estimate of borrowing, or borrowing in real terms.

Important caveat

Each forecast vintage uses the definitions and classifications in force when it was made, so the outturn the OBR shows beside it may differ from today's ONS series after later classification changes and revisions. The outturn row is the figure as the OBR knew it at its most recent forecast, not the latest ONS estimate. Forecasts before June 2010 were produced by HM Treasury, not the OBR. Fiscal series are financial years; economy series are calendar years. A forecast is a statement of uncertainty made at the time and is stored as an estimate; a miss is not evidence of misconduct.

Revision history

No period of this series has been revised since it was first ingested here. Revisions are recorded automatically when a later release publishes a different figure for the same period.

Source

Publisher
OBR
Publication
Historical official forecasts database
Release
Historical official forecasts database, March 2026, published 26 March 2026
Source file
obr-historical-forecasts-2026-03.xlsx
File SHA-256
e00b17cb7ec8dfddc4bfd4d212c1e93362147fff81d74a10480e599b26e634db
Retrieved
3 September 2026
Sheet
£PSNB
Table
£PSNB
Row
Outturn data*
Column
2024-25
Cell value
152.74199999999976
Geography
United Kingdom
Unit
£ billion
API
/api/metrics/obr_forecast_psnb · /series · /vintages

Government periods

Change during each government, from the level inherited to the last complete period before it left office. Describes the period; does not attribute cause.

Conservative 2019–2024£44.3bnYear ending March 2019£134.7bnYear ending March 2024↑ 204.1%
Conservative 2017–2019£57.2bnYear ending March 2017£44.3bnYear ending March 2019↓ 22.5%
Conservative 2015–2017£97.5bnYear ending March 2015£57.2bnYear ending March 2017↓ 41.4%
Coalition 2010–2015£159.6bnYear ending March 2010£97.5bnYear ending March 2015↓ 38.9%
Labour 2005–2010£51.7bnYear ending March 2005£159.6bnYear ending March 2010↑ 209.0%
Labour 2001–2005-£16.3bnYear ending March 2001£51.7bnYear ending March 2005↑ 417.1%
Labour 1997–2001£28.9bnYear ending March 1997-£16.3bnYear ending March 2001↓ 156.3%
Conservative 1992–1997£23.8bnYear ending March 1992£28.9bnYear ending March 1997↑ 21.7%
Conservative 1987–1992£8.7bnYear ending March 1987£23.8bnYear ending March 1992↑ 171.9%
Conservative 1983–1987£8.5bnYear ending March 1983£8.7bnYear ending March 1987↑ 2.3%
Conservative 1979–1983£8.7bnYear ending March 1979£8.5bnYear ending March 1983↓ 1.6%

Full comparison with chart

Release
Historical official forecasts database, March 2026 · publication page
Last updated
26 March 2026
Next release expected
Not yet announced (estimated from the usual cadence)