Britain’s national debt has surpassed £3 trillion for the first time in the country’s history, according to estimates from the Taxpayers’ Alliance, with the campaign group describing the level of borrowing as “out of control” and warning that the Government is adding to the debt pile at a rate of more than £4,000 every second.
Britain’s national debt has topped £3 trillion for the first time, according to estimates from the Taxpayers’ Alliance, which believes the historic threshold was crossed in recent days based on the current trajectory of Government spending. The figure equates to more than £100,000 for every household in the UK and represents around 95% of the country’s annual economic output. Official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) recorded public sector net debt at £2.99 trillion at the end of June, with July’s data yet to be published.
How the estimate was reached
Although the ONS has not yet confirmed public sector net debt has passed £3 trillion, the Taxpayers’ Alliance based its estimate on recent borrowing trends. Debt increased by more than £20 billion during July last year, a rise that, if repeated this year, would be sufficient to push the total beyond the £3 trillion mark.
If confirmed, the milestone would represent the highest nominal level of UK public debt on record, though it is worth noting that debt has previously been considerably higher when measured as a share of GDP, exceeding 250% during and immediately after the Second World War. Economists generally regard debt as a percentage of GDP, rather than the cash total alone, as the more meaningful measure of fiscal sustainability, since a growing economy is able to support a larger overall debt burden.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) had forecast in its March 2026 Economic and Fiscal Outlook that public sector net debt would not exceed £3 trillion until September, meaning the milestone may now have arrived earlier than officially anticipated.
Borrowing running ahead of forecasts
The Government borrowed £2.7 billion more than had been forecast during the first three months of the current financial year, a gap driven largely by higher debt interest payments and a growing welfare bill. According to the Taxpayers’ Alliance, this means the Government is adding to the national debt at a rate of £4,270 every second, equivalent to £369 million a day.
Public borrowing has remained elevated in recent months due to higher spending on health, welfare, pensions and debt interest, combined with weaker-than-expected economic growth. Rising debt interest payments in particular have become one of the Government’s most significant spending pressures, in part because a substantial proportion of UK government debt is linked to inflation, while higher interest rates more broadly have pushed up the cost of borrowing.
The cost of servicing the debt
The cost of servicing Britain’s national debt is projected to exceed £130 billion this year, and OBR forecasts suggest annual debt interest costs will climb above £160 billion by the end of the decade, making debt servicing one of the largest single areas of public expenditure. The OBR separately projects that total public debt will approach £3.5 trillion by 2030-31.
Under the UK’s current fiscal rules, the Government is required to ensure public debt falls as a share of GDP over the forecast period, a target that continued borrowing growth makes increasingly challenging to meet. For Chancellor John Healey, who has pledged to prioritise fiscal discipline, the latest figures underline the scale of that challenge.
Reaction from the Taxpayers’ Alliance
John O’Connell, chief executive of the Taxpayers’ Alliance, an independent campaign group that advocates for lower taxes and reduced public spending, described the national debt as “out of control.” He said: “If Andy Burnham is serious about ushering in a new economic model, he should do it without creating a bigger bill for our children and grandchildren to pay off.”
The Government’s official borrowing and debt figures are published monthly by the ONS, while the OBR provides independent forecasts used to assess the UK’s long-term fiscal outlook.
