UKDebtWatch.co.uk · Public Sector Net Debt · Estimated Live
UK National Debt Clock
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Loading the current UK national debt estimate.
Key figures
UK national debt: the questions people ask
Answered from the latest ONS release
How much is the UK national debt right now?
Public sector net debt excluding public sector banks was £2,985.5 billion at the end of August 2026 — 93.8% of GDP — according to the ONS release published on 22 September 2026. The counter above estimates where that figure stands today by adding the observed rate of accrual since that date.
Has the UK passed £3 trillion?
Not yet. The ONS put public sector net debt at £2,985.5 billion at the end of August 2026 — just below £3 trillion — and revised July down to £2,982.0 billion. At the pace of the past year the counter above projects the crossing in early November 2026. That is an estimate, not an official statistic.
How fast is the debt growing?
Roughly £2,489 every second — about £149,340 a minute, £8.96 million an hour and £215.0 million a day. That rate comes from the £78.5 billion of net debt added in the year to the end of August 2026. Separately, the government borrowed £77.3 billion in the first five months of the 2026/27 financial year.
How much national debt is that per person?
Just under £44,000 for every person in the UK, using the ONS mid-year population estimate of 68.35 million. Per taxpayer the figure is considerably higher, since roughly 33 million people pay income tax.
What is the difference between debt and the deficit?
The deficit is the gap between what the government spends and what it raises in a single year — public sector net borrowing. The debt is the accumulated total of every past deficit, less anything repaid. A falling deficit still adds to the debt; the debt only falls when the government runs a surplus or when growth and inflation shrink it relative to GDP.
How much interest does the UK pay on its debt?
Interest payable was £8.8 billion in August 2026 alone, of which £2.1 billion came from the RPI-linked capital uplift on index-linked gilts. Because roughly a quarter of UK government debt is index-linked, inflation feeds into the interest bill far faster here than in most comparable economies.
Is this real-time government data?
No. The ONS publishes public sector finances once a month, around the 21st. This page takes the most recent official figure as its baseline and projects forward at a measured rate, so the number you see between releases is an estimate. Every input is listed below and the baseline is reset at each ONS release.
How this counter is calculated
Every input, in the open
- Measure Public sector net debt excluding public sector banks (PSND ex), the headline measure used by the ONS, OBR and HM Treasury.
- Baseline £2,985.5 billion at 31 August 2026, from ONS Public sector finances, UK: August 2026, published 22 September 2026.
- Rate £2,489 per second. Net debt rose £78.5 billion in the year to 31 August 2026 — 365 days, or 31,536,000 seconds. A twelve-month window is used because single months are volatile: after July was revised down, debt rose only £3.5 billion during August. This is the observed accrual of debt, which is larger than borrowing alone because it also captures other financial transactions and gilt premia.
- GDP £3,183 billion nominal, implied by the ONS ratio of 93.8% of GDP at the August 2026 baseline. Held constant between releases, so the ratio shown drifts slightly high as the month goes on.
- Population 68,350,000, ONS mid-year estimate.
- Revisions Baseline and rate are reset at each monthly ONS release. ONS figures for 2025/26 and 2026/27 are provisional and subject to revision. Next release: 21 October 2026.
- Not advice This site is an information resource. Nothing here is financial advice. Partner links are affiliate links and may earn this site a commission at no cost to you.