In 2021, the three biggest government programs are health care (i.e, the NHS), state pensions, and welfare.

Public Spending Details for 2015

Spending details break down public spending by function and level of government. You can also drill down to view more spending detail by clicking the [+] control on each function line.

The table shows overall public spendingcentral government and local authoritiesin the United Kingdom for the specified fiscal year. Government expenditure totals are aggregated for each major government function.

All outlays for British public spending prior to 2021 are outturn. More recent spending, including future years out to 2024, are estimated outturn, planned, or guesstimated.

Public sector expenditure between 1992 through 2024 is based on Public Expenditure Statistical Analysis (PESA) function or subfunction data published by HM Treasury.

You can use controls on the table to change the year or to drill down to view more detailed spending information. You can also view the spending data as percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Click the button at the right of each line of the table to display a bar chart of public spending in Britain. Click a button at the base of each column for a bar chart or pie chart. You can right click on the chart image to copy and paste it into your own content. Click the image to close the chart display.

Notes

Outturn vs. Plan: Public spending data in ukpublicspending.co.uk includes public spending outturns and also future spending in three categories: estimated outturn, planned, and guesstimated. Records of recent spending are more detailed than historical records of earlier times.

Current Budget Deficit: The Office of Budget Responsibility computes the deficit as (current expenditure less current receipts less depreciation). It will not equal the difference between spending and revenue on this site because this site computes total spending by including both current and capital expenditure and ignoring depreciation.

Public Spending Updates: The current numbers are based on HM Treasurys PESA for 2020. The next update will be made after the PESA 2021 is published in late spring or summer 2021.