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United Kingdom: General government expenditure (% of GDP)

Percent of GDP · 1830–2025 · 196 observations · forecasts to 2031 · gen_govexp_GDP

2025
46.2%percent of GDP
Change on 2024
−0.1 pointsfrom 46.3%
Average, 2016–2025
44.9%10 years
Record high and low
61.4% (1944)low 6.91% (1880)

General government expenditure (% of GDP)

Report error
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%1850190019502000United KingdomUnited Kingdom
ForecastPercent of GDP

Compare with other countries →Definition of General government expenditure (% of GDP)

Recent values

Percent of GDP

YearValue
203145.0Forecast
203045.0Forecast
202945.0Forecast
202845.3Forecast
202745.6Forecast
202645.5Forecast
202546.2
202446.3
202346.4
202246.1
202147.9
202052.3
201940.8
201840.8
201741.0
201641.5

Sources

  • IMF Fiscal Policy Panel1830–2023
  • GPIH government budgets1840–1975
  • Feinstein1900–1964
  • HM Treasury1900–2022
  • Sefton & Weale1920–1990
  • OECD Economic Outlook1970–2025
  • IMF Government Finance Statistics1973–2024
  • IMF World Economic Outlook1980–2025
  • OECD Economic Outlook (forecast)2025–2027
  • IMF WEO (forecast)2025–2031

Compare these sources →

United Kingdom documentation (PDF)

More for United Kingdom

Real GDP per capita (USD)Nominal GDPReal GDPInflationUnemployment rateGovernment debt (% of GDP)All 77 series →

General government expenditure (% of GDP) elsewhere

United StatesChinaJapanGermanyFranceIndia

Please cite: Müller, K., Xu, C., Lehbib, M., & Chen, Z. (2025). The Global Macro Database: A New International Macroeconomic Dataset. NBER Working Paper 33714. BibTeX →

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