UK debt tops £2 trillion for first time

UK public sector borrowing has hit more than £2 trillion for the first time in history as ministers invest billions of pounds to support the economy and jobs through the pandemic, figures have revealed.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said official bodies had borrowed £26.7 billion in July, the fourth highest amount of any month since records began in 1993.

It pushed debt to about £2,004 billion for the first time and means that the public sector debt is higher than gross domestic product (GDP) – the value of everything produced in the UK in a year.

Debt reached 100.5% of GDP at the end of July, the first time it had risen above 100% since 1961, the ONS said.

It marks a £227.6 billion rise since this time last year, according to the figures.

However, the official figures have been unusually inaccurate recently, as statisticians and economists try to figure out how to account for the pandemic.

Just weeks ago the ONS revised down June’s borrowing figure by £6 billion to £29.5 billion, as tax and National Insurance contributions rose more than expected.